GMA elated by Quarter 2 growth

President Arroyo said yesterday she was "very much pleased" with the report of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.3 percent for the second quarter of this year far exceeding the target set by government and the private sector.

The President expressed optimism that the improved economic scenario would get an added boost when the foreign investments she was able to attract during her just concluded state visits to Brunei Darussalam and Singapore last week and much earlier in Malaysia, start coming in during the third quarter.

"So far, I can say that the economy is still growing while other economies among our neighboring countries go through recession," President Arroyo said.

The President said the growth sectors for the Philippines will come from the information communicatioin technology (ICT), tourism and other labor-intensive service sectors.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the President was particularly elated over local GDP growth in the second quarters because it was the period when the country experienced political upheavals from destabilizatioin attempts against her administration, the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping at Dos Palmas, and violent incidents in the mid-term elections.

"Clearly, with political stability now and the government’s steady but sure annihilation of kidnapping groups, economic growth will be expected to be robust in the coming years under this administration as its programs take effect," Tiglao said.

‘This (three percent GDP growth) was really beyond our expectations," he admitted.

In a press briefing at Malacañang yesterday, Tiglao said President Arroyo described the Philippines as the "star performer" in the region with its 3.3 percent GDP growth for the second quarter while its neighboring countries faltered or even contracted, like Singapore which experienced minus 0.9 percent, GDP.

Tiglao said the second quarter GDP growth was highlighted by the fact that the country attained this "in the context of a harsh world environment" where the economies of its major trading partners like the United States and Japan have slowed down or even shrunk.

Based on the comparative report of the NEDA, Philippine GDP growth rate was better than South Korea’s 2.7 percent; Hong Kong’s preliminary estimates of 1.5 percent; Malaysia’s 0.5 percent; Thailand’s preliminary estimates of one percent and Taiwan’s negative 2.35 percent government estimates.