Philippines lowers growth target for 2008

06/05/2008 -- 5:03 PM

Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines has scaled down its domestic growth target for 2008 given the impact of a US-led global slowdown and skyrocketing food and fuel prices, Philippine media reported. According to the Inquirer news network, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has been revised down to between 6 and 6.7 percent from an earlier target of 6.3 to 7 percent. "We have to revise because there will be slower growth as production is affected by increasing oil and food prices," Philippine Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos was cited as saying. Last year, the Philippines reported GDP growth of 7.3 percent, the best performance in three decades. The inflation rate forecast for 2008 has also been raised from between 3.0 and 4.0 percent to 4.0-5.0 percent. The International Monetary Fund last month forecast Philippine growth for 2008 at 6.0 percent unless key reforms were implemented. The Asian Development Bank has put it at six percent while the World Bank forceast was 5.9 percent. - Enditem
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