TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, (PIA) – Eastern Visayas posted the fastest economic growth in the country in 2016, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority in the region.
In a news conference of the 2016 Regional Economic Performance of Eastern Visayas yesterday, PSA regional director Wilma A. Perante said the economy of the region grew by 12.4 percent in 2016, higher than the previous year’s growth rate of 4.6 percent.
Citing the total value of gross regional domestic product of Eastern Visayas in 2016, the economic situation of Region VIII has increased to Php172.1 billion in 2016, an increase of 12.4 percent from the Php153.2 billion in 2015.
Said figure is the first ever double digit growth of the region and higher by 5.5 percentage points than the country’s growth rate of 6.9 percent.
The Industry sector contributed the largest share of the region’s economy at 44.3 percent followed by the service sector at 40.6 percent and agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) at 15.1 percent.
In a statement, regional director Bonifacio G. Uy of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the economic growth was a result of flourishing economic activities due to high domestic demand, strong business confidence, and public and private investments, as well as continued post-Yolanda rehabilitation and construction activities, which triggered the implementation of construction projects, among others.
The buoyant economy in 2016 also resulted in a per capita GRDP of Php37, 261 measured in constant term, the highest in the last seven years, which also grew the fastest year-on-year across regions.
With this development, Uy expressed optimism that these economic gains will be sustained in the coming years in order to maintain a stable economy.
“We should not lose sight of our objective to effectuate an economic growth that translates to poverty reduction and job generation in the region,”Uy said.
The growth regional domestic product (GRDP) simply a measure of regions’ economic performance covering various goods and services produced in a region and shows how the economy of the region grows faster or decline as compared with the previous year’s performance.
It measures the relative contribution of the three major economic sectors namely Industry, Services and Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing (AHFF).
PSA noted that the economic growth of the region continued to improve from 2014 to 2016.(ajc/cba/PIA8)
