Philippine numbers looking good

The Philippines’ economic managers are on a roadshow in the US to trumpet the country’s economic gains, spotlighting its achievements – among them –  a higher than expected 6.4% growth in the first quarter, capping 53 consecutive quarters of growth and an 11.4% increase in revenue collections in the first four months of 2012 because of tax administration efforts. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also says that foreign direct investments (FDI) shot up 72.4% in the first 3 months of the year, despite dropping 91% in March alone.  FDI is a measure of investor sentiment.  The question now is will these numbers translate to a better life for Filipinos?  Government officials say the country is on its way and its measures aim to bring a more equitable distribution of wealth through programs like the conditional cash transfer or CCT and others.  Despite these numbers, President Aquino’s most recent approval ratings show economic gains have yet to trickle down.

Read more about FDIs here, the roadshow here and President Aquino’s approval ratings here – all on Rappler.