GDP Growth Hype Cannot Hide Philippines’s Economic Failures

The Arroyo administration’s hype over its full-year 2007 economic growth cannot hide its many economic failures, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

Reacting to the administration’s claim that the 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) growth was the fastest in 31 years, IBON research head Sonny Africa said there are other records the Arroyo administration is setting that are more telling of the economy: 1) The manufacturing and agriculture sectors, compared to their share in the GDP are at their smallest in the last 37 years; 2) The unemployment rate shows the worst joblessness of any administration; and 3) The real average family income is at its lowest over the last 10 years.

In 2007 the share of manufacturing to GDP was only 23% and that of agriculture 18% (adjusted for inflation based on base year 1985), compared to 27.9% and 33.1% in 1970. The average annual unemployment rate of 11.3% over the 2001-2007 period is the worst such period recorded in the country’s history.

Meanwhile, the average family income in 2006, adjusted for inflation using 2000 as the base year, is just P125,000, 15% lower than the P148,000 recorded in 1997.

“The growth that the administration hypes is meaningless for millions of Filipinos. It merely reflects the profits of a few big foreign corporations and their local partners,” Africa said.

Even worse, “The economy has been distorted by economic globalization and is less and less able to create enough jobs and decent incomes for millions of Filipinos,” he added. (end)

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