Growth goals to be met despite El Niño – NEDA
Credit to Author: ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES| Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:18:44 +0000
Economic growth this year will remain strong despite the impact of an ongoing El Niño, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Friday.
Initial estimates point to a 0.9-percentage point hit for the first quarter and this has already been factored into the downwardly-revised 6.0-7.0 percent growth target for 2019, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia told reporters in a briefing.
“The 6 to 7 percent is the more realistic target given the reenactment of budget and the effects of El Niño,” he said.
NEDA Assistant Secretary Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos said that for the full year, El Niño’s impact on gross domestic product growth (GDP) had been estimated to be 0.2 percentage points.
The weather pattern, delays in the approval of the 2019 national budget and the US-China trade war were cited by the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) when it cut this year’s growth target to 6.0-7.0 percent from 7.0-8.0 percent.
“When the DBCC revised the target for the 2019, that already presumed the weak El Niño and was included in the calculation. It was already incorporated in the revised target.” Santos said.
“However, depending on the response that we have, that might even be less,” he added.
“We are very bullish [on growth]. We are still at 6 to 7 percent.”
NEDA officials are also optimistic that inflation will settle within the 2.0-4.0 percent target despite the El Niño.
“I think we can be confident that we will stay within the target range of 2-4 percent. If there’s some impact, then inflation will still be within the target,” Pernia said.
He added that implementation of the rice tariffication law would also help ensure ample supplies of staple.
“Major rice producing areas [have] already harvested. Pag-asa (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astonomical Services Administration) reported that El Niño already peaked and will start weakening in the next months,” NEDA Assistant Secretary Mercedita Sombilla said.
“With the rice tariff , we can expect importers to bring more and beef up the domestic supply,” she added
The NEDA, citing data from the Agriculture department, said that droughts and dry spells brought by El Niño had caused P1.33 billion in damage to the agriculture sector as of March 18.
To help mitigate the impact, it said government agencies should focus on food security, water security, energy security, health, and safety.
“We cannot stop El Niño but we can make swift and effective moves to soften its impact on the lives of our countrymen and the economy,” Pernia said.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council also approved the full reactivation of the El Niño Task Force and is now waiting for a memorandum order from Malacañang.
“NEDA is ready to take a lead role in mitigating the effects of El Niño,” Pernia said.
As an interim measure, it wants to transform the National Water Resource Board into the National Water Management Council to strengthen the agency and provide it with additional manpower and financial resources.
“There is a need for an apex body that will oversee the overall planning, programming, and policy formulation based on sound data,” Pernia said.
A long-term solution would be the creation of the Department of Water Resources, he added.
The post Growth goals to be met despite El Niño – NEDA appeared first on The Manila Times Online.