Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Philippines is the main driving force of the economy of Southeast Asia, thanks to a "strong domestic demand," which is expected to continue to grow. According to the forecasts made by the rating agency Standard & Poor's (S & P), Manila's scale of development is such that it is pushing the other nations of the region from the continent's top economies for the year 2013. The arrival of major international retail chains confirm the growing development - especially in the major centers including Manila. Luxury apartments are also springing up in every corner of the capital, surrounded by shops and shopping centers, offices and financial call centers.
In fact, while the rest of Asia
is expected to decline caused by the progressive deterioration of the Chinese
economy and the "luke warm" recovery of the United States and Europe,
in the Philippines, the prospects are much better. The
report from S & P explains that "the strong domestic demand," is
helping major south-east Asian markets to "better address the
crisis."
For
the rating agency Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are
expected to grow - on average - 5.5% in the current year, a higher than
expected figure, given that for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole there was a
forecast of a 5.3%. Manila
in particular has benefited because "less dependent" on a "weak"
global market and in recent months "has exceeded even Jakarta."
The
predictions are for a GDP increase of around 7% in 2013, which should then
settle on 6/6.5% in the next two years. There
"threat" of China is ever present, whose decline (growth well below
the 7.5% trumpeted by the government) is likely to hit the entire Asia-Pacific
region.
The
economic growth in recent years is the direct result of the policies promoted
by President Aquino, who was elected in 2010 with a campaign devoted to the
fight against corruption and widespread poverty. He
took power in a context in itself full of potential for the common use of the
English language, the relative freedom of the press and established democratic
tradition despite pockets of violence and internal resistance. However
there are still some unresolved issues, in particular the node linked to
poverty - 28% live below the minimum threshold of survival - as well as the
strengthening of the infrastructure (airports, roads, hotels), the fight
against unemployment, which registered a increase
in April over the same period (from 6.9% to 7.5%) in the past year.