Haiyan to slow down PH growth

The impact of Haiyan will likely reduce 4th-quarter Gross Domestic Product growth by as much as 0.8 percentage point, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. The country’s economy is expected to grow by only 4.1% in coming quarter, he added. Before Yolanda struck, the Philippine economy was projected to grow over 7%. Eastern Samar, for instance, saw 80% of its coconut trees – the base of the region’s economy – destroyed, and congressman Ben Evardone said it would take a minimum of 3 to 5 years for new plantings to bear fruit.

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