Philippine growth slows to 3.7% in 2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy grew a “feeble” 3.7 percent last year amid lacklustre government spending and bleak global conditions, authorities announced Monday.

The figure was lower than the 7.6 percent growth registered the previous year, and missed the government’s official 12-month target of 4.5-5.5 percent, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said.

The economy also expanded 3.7 percent year-on-year in the final quarter, up from a revised 3.6 percent in the previous quarter, it said in a statement.

NCSB secretary-general Romulo Virola said that amid external global woes “the government underspending on infrastructure in the second and third quarters and the sustained decline in fishing, the domestic economy grew in 2011 by a relatively feeble 3.7 percent.”