Philippine gov't expects economy to grow despite massive storm destruction

• Source: Xinhua
• [13:03 October 14 2009]
• Comments

Philippine economic managers Wednesday said they are confident that the economic growth for this year will hit the targeted 0.8 to 1.8 percent despite massive damages wrought by two strong storms in the past two weeks as overseas Filipinos are expected to wire back more money in time of crisis.

In a press briefing held here Wednesday, Philippine Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the steady inflow of remittances from the overseas Filipino workers will offset the damages brought by back-to-back storms amounting to 16 billion pesos (about 344 million US dollars). This figure includes roads, bridges, irrigation facilities and farmlands.

Since Sept. 26, tropical storms Kestana and Parma struck the northern Philippines one after another, causing widespread flooding that submerged low-lying towns and villages up to now. More than 650 people were killed and around 6 million people were affected.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) policy planning director Dennis Arroyo notes that owing to the recent calamities, overseas Filipinos might send more money back home to help their families who lost their homes and properties.

Teves said that remittances for this year may grow by 4 percent, revising their earlier forecast of a flat growth, compared to the 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points reduction in GDP growth due to storm damages.