Gov't reviewing midterm development plan

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government has started a review of the country's medium-term development plan as the Aquino administration is now on its remaining three years in office, a senior government official said today.

In a news briefing, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said that President Benigno Aquino III presided over a meeting with members of his cabinet on Monday to assess his administration's accomplishments and the work that still needs to be done to sustain the economic performance of the country.

"The meeting was a midterm review of the economic considerations of the Republic of the Philippines...the president ordered that, as we are approaching the middle of his term, he wanted a very detailed and a full-blown review of the past three years, looking at questions about the economy," he said.

He said that part of the discussions also was on how the country would move forward "here on and all the way to the end of 2016."

Aquino's term will end in June 2016.

Asked if the macroeconomic targets, including the gross domestic product (GDP), will be revised upward given the 7.8 percent economic growth during the first quarter of this year, Almendras said, "We're waiting for some numbers that will hopefully come in on the second quarter."

The government is currently targeting 6 percent to 7 percent GDP growth for this year.