European Union praises RP growth

The European Union has commended the Philippines for its recent economic gains, but extending the benefits of economic development to the poor is an issue the government still needs to address, said EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald.

“The main point that we would underline are, first of all, the European Union commended the Philippines for the substantial GDP growth achieved in 2007,” MacDonald said.

The country registered a 7.3-percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007, the highest in three decades.

“We recognize that this is the best macroeconomic performance in some 50 years and we wanted to acknowledge that, noting as well that this was accompanied by controlled inflation, a balanced budget and an improved balance of payments,” said MacDonald.

“So at the macroeconomic level, the progress has been very good and we did want to acknowledge and give

But the EU would also urge the Philippine government to continue in its efforts “to build a more truly inclusive growth,” MacDonald said.

“You have seen the recent data that came from the NSCB (National Statistical Coordinating Board) that showed that the rate of poverty in the Philippines as a proportion of the population living on less than a dollar a day has in fact increased from 30 percent to 33 percent notwithstanding the improved economic performance overall,” he said.

“Now, the government is certainly going to have its work cut out to achieve the Millenium Development Goals that we all have signed up for and to ensure that the poorest communities have access to proper health and education services and can share in the benefits of this improved economic climate,” he added.

The Millennium Development Goals is an eight-point program adopted by members of the United Nations aimed at eradicating extreme hunger, poverty and inequality by 2015. The goals, which include halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, form a blueprint agreed to by all UN member-states and the world's leading development institutions.

According to the website of the EU embassy in the Philippines, the EU—composed of the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and its member-states—collectively accounts for 1.365 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of total official development assistance loans and 16.65 billion euros ($26.2 billion) in grants extended to the Philippines between 1992 and 2000.

This makes the EU the country's fourth largest ODA contributor.

According to MacDonald, the EU is willing to help the Philippines further in the campaign against poverty and in delivering social services like health and education.

“At the same time we highlighted the need to further improve the revenue efforts in order to permit effective measures to be taken to reduce social inequality,” he said.