PALO, Leyte – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is keeping a 5.4% average growth of Gross Regional Domestic Product from until 2016 despite last year’s projected shortfall due to low government spending for big projects.
 

NEDA Regional Director Buenaventura Go-Soco said that even with a better performance in agriculture in 2011, the region can expect an estimated growth of 4%, lower than the target because there might be slowdown in other sectors.

 “We are going to have growth rate higher than in the past years because of increased outputs of major agricultural product. We still have to see how services and industry will perform,” Go-Soco told Leyte Samar Daily Express.

 Reports on fourth quarter performance will be out next month and complete analysis will be done before the end of first quarter, according to him.

 Citing the 2011 third quarter performance, Go-soco said that rice posted a 9.7% increase compared to the same period last year and 2.6% growth for coconut.

 “We’re doing well with our main products and this will mean increasing rural income.  People will have more money to spend for goods and service,” Go-Soco said.

 The NEDA regional office here is still consolidating performance reports of service and industry sectors for July to September 2011.

 In a second quarter analysis, NEDA said that employment rate this quarter is lower by 1.6% compared to the employment rate in the same quarter of last year.

 “This could be attributed to the slowdown in major   government infrastructure projects in the region which is evident in the decreased tax collection on withholding tax from government projects being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other national agencies.” NEDA said in a statement.

 This year, the DPWH got a regular and additional budget of P3.7 billion, lower than the P14 billion allocations for infrastructure projects in 2010.

 January to November 2011 collection data obtained by LSDE from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the region earned P3.53 billion in taxes with a shortfall of 10.42% against target or P410.76 million. The BIR regional office is scheduled to release the complete 2011 report next week.

 In the industry sector for the second quarter, the total value of the region’s exports increased by 36.6% resulting from the increase in the volume and value of exports from Leyte Industrial Development Estate in Isabel, Leyte. The value of exports for April to June 2011 quarter was pegged at $486.3 million.

 From 2004 to 2009, the GRDP grew at an average rate of only 3.6% per year. For 2010, the National Statistical Coordination Board has yet to come up with economic growth rate report with the changes of the existing base year which is 1985. The government wants to make 2000 as the base year in the measurement of economic growth. (Sarwell Q. Meniano)