Philippines Economy 1997

Economy - overview The Philippine economy, primarily a mixture of agriculture and lightindustry, continued its fourth year of recovery in 1996, led by growth inexports and investments. Officials have targeted 7.1%-7.8% growth for 1997 after achieving an estimated 5.5% growth in 1996. The government is continuingits economic reforms to enable the Philippines to move closer to the developmentof the newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includesimproving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster governmentrevenues, and moving toward further deregulation and privatization of theeconomy.

GDP purchasing power parity - $194.2 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 5.5% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,600 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 22%
industry: 32%
services: 46% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 8.4% (1996)

Labor force
total: 29.13 million (1996 est.)
by occupation : agriculture 43.4%, services 22.6%, government services 17.9%, industryand commerce 16.1% (1995)

Unemployment rate 8.6% (1996)

Budget
revenues: $18.4 billion
expenditures : $16.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)

Industries textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing,electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate 6.3% (1996)

Electricity - capacity 7.64 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production 25.22 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita 326 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, mangoes; pork,eggs, beef; fish catch of 2 million metric tons annually

Exports
total value : $20.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: electronics, textiles, coconut products, telecommunications equipment,fruit, fish
partners: US 36%, Japan 16%, Singapore 5%, Hong Kong 5%, UK 5% (1995)

Imports
total value : $33.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: crude petroleum, telecommunications equipment, electronics, plastics,cars, textiles
partners: Japan 22%, US 18%, Saudi Arabia 6%, Taiwan 5%, South Korea 5% Singapore4% (1995)

Debt - external $42.7 billion (June 1996)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $934 million (1993)

Currency 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates Philippine pesos (P) per US$1 - 26.36 (May 1997), 26.216 (1996), 25.714(1995), 26.417 (1994), 27.120 (1993), 25.512 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Philippines on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Philippines Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Philippines Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.