DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The government is nearing the targeted economic growth as the calendar year is about to end.
This was the positive forecast of Presidential spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque who claimed the economic movement of the country is gaining its momentum despite the challenges it encountered.
“From all indications, the economic forecast is very realistic and we know we can achieve our goal,” Roque elaborated during the press briefing at the Presidential Guesthouse in Panacan Monday.
“It will be good this year. The DBM has assured that we are on track,” Roque emphasized.
The Moody’s Services, according to Roque has predicted that the Philippine economy would grow by 6.57 percent, “It is just close to our target growth of 6.5 to 7 percent.”
Among the sectors which contributed to the growth, Roque cited is the agricultural sector which posted 4.64 percent growth from January to September 2017 while the gross production increased by 2.3 percent during the third quarter with a gross value of P380.5 billion.
Roque attributed the growth to production gains in the crops and livestock sub-sectors.
The Department of Agriculture posted growth of 3.68 percent for the period from July to September and 4.9 percent for the first nine months of 2017.
Foreign investors continue to explore possible investment opportunities in the Philippines as the Board of Investments (BOI) posted 187 percent increase in investment approvals.
Roque said investments in October 2017 amounted to P27.6 billion, almost triple the amount recorded during the same period in 2016 at P9.6 billion.
During the last ten months, the Philippine economy continue to post significant investment approvals which now totaled to P408-billion compared to the P286-billion in 2016.
The investment market noted a 38.1 percent growth.
The approved projects also increased from 283 last year to 369 in the first 10 months of 2017.-EZC/Newsline.ph
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