BusinessWorld Online
September 10, 2010
MINDANAO OUTPACED other parts of the country in terms of growth of personal consumption expenditure (PCE) last year, data the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) released on Friday showed.
Specifically, Mindanao’s PCE grew 4.9% in 2009, compared to 4.7% in the Visayas, 4.5% in the National Capital Region (NCR), 3.0% in other parts of Luzon and 4.1% nationwide, NSCB reported.
Mindanao’s PCE growth in 2009 was faster than the 4.5% increase the island group posted in 2008, while that of the Visayas was faster than its 4.1% that preceding year.
Both NCR and other parts of Luzon, however, saw a deceleration from 5.7% and 4.2%, respectively, in 2008.
Nationwide, PCE’s 2009 growth was also slower than the 4.7% seen the previous year.
But “Other Luzon” accounted for the biggest share of total private spending in 2009 with 37.1% at P427.6 billion, followed by NCR with 28.8% at P332.1 billion, Mindanao with 18.3% at P207.8 billion and the Visayas with 18.0% at P185.1 billion, NSCB said.
Moreover, NCR had the highest per capita private spending that year at P29,126.30, followed by “Other Luzon” with P10,637.00, the Visayas with P9,905.50 and Mindanao with P9,473.40.
Private domestic spending is considered a major driver of economic growth. Prescriptions from multilateral agencies and private analysts have cited the need to beef up such spending, among other measures, to help cushion economies from external shocks like the global slump that dampened demand for exports last year.
The Philippines’ PCE, which comprised 80.49% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009, amounted to P1.15 trillion, 4.1% more than the previous year’s P1.107 trillion.
Latest available central bank data show that PCE accounted for 77.46% of GDP in the first semester this year, growing 5.34% to P576.524 billion from P548.359 billion in the same period last year.
The first half 2010 PCE growth was faster than the 4.29% year-on-year increase seen in the same period in 2009, the same data showed.