Aquino optimistic economy will pick up

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III on Monday said that he was optimistic that the economy’s growth will pick up despite the dismal 4.9-percent gross domestic product (GDP) posted in the first three months of the year.

The President, however, noted that the country did not turn out badly even if it shared the same fate of its neighbors—being affected by the political riots in the Middle East and the strong earthquake that shook Japan, which happens to be the Philippines’ biggest trading partner and source of foreign assistance.

But Aquino said he was optimistic for the rest of the year, with his government starting to pump prime the economy in the second quarter of the year and now that oil prices in the market have started to stabilize.

“We believe our (growth) numbers will improve,” Aquino told reporters in an interview in Malacañang, a few hours after economic officials announced that the economy expanded by a lower-than-expected 4.9 percent in the three months to March which they attribute to a drop in global trade and less spending on infrastructure.

The National Statistical Coordination Board said first quarter growth in gross domestic product was lower than the 8.4-percent GDP in the same period last year, when economic activity was boosted by election-related spending.