Economic Development of the Philippines The Philippines consists of 7,107 islands and has a population of 65.8 million people. It is a growing Asian state, which surpasses many of its neighbors in economic as well as social development. Today the positions of the government are getting stronger. The future of the Philippines seems to be hopeful. However, tracing the development of this country from the early times to our days, we can find that their people have experienced lots of hardships. A steady government and labor system has costed The Philippines a hard struggle. They have been fighting for it since WWII.
The economy of the Philippines was practically destroyed then. Poverty and conflict strained the economic and industrial growth of the country. Several presidents have made improvements, but the Philippines is still struggling with poverty and political instability. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan sailed to the Philippines and began colonizations. Since then the Philippines has been the colony of Spain and the USA. In 1902, the United States offered education and economic opportunities to the Filipinos. In 1934 Manuel Querzon the first president was promised independence by 1946. The Philippines was granted independence with Manuel Roxas as their leader.
However, poverty and conflict was widespread. Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965. Throughout his term he created many economic and social problems. Marcos had made progress in agriculture, industry, and education. However, increasing student demonstrations and violent urban-guerrilla activities troubled his administration. In 1972 he declared martial law in the Philippines, dismissed the congress, and made himself and his wife the only rulers in the Philippines.
The Essay on Economic Growth And Development Paper – NLEX
Significance of Toll Road Industry and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Concession in the Philippine Economy Viewed from the perspective of the total road network of the Philippines having 202,000 km., the current length of all tolled expressways (about 320 km.) in the country represent a mere 0.16%. At the same time, all are operating and located in the Mega Manila area traversing the National ...
Marcos’ later years in power were characterized by government corruption, economic stagnation, and widening of economic inequalities between the rich and the poor. The economy of the Philippines – a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and supporting services – is based on free enterprise. All individuals and nongovernmental entities are free to participate in its development and management. However, sometimes they have to resort to the aid of government credit. The private sector of the economy has been assisted by the government intensively through exempting certain new industries from taxation for a certain period. Government banks (the Central Bank of the Philippines, the Philippine National Bank, and the Development Bank) were established to encourage business, agriculture, and industry. The government provided much of the original capital investment of many private rural banks. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Board of Investments were created to help both public and private sectors in planning economic development.
Their aim has been also to increase economic independence. While there have been advantages in the trade relations between the United States and the Philippines, this trade has resulted in the development of industries that would primarily benefit the American rather than the Filipino economy. Despite the fact that the United States and Japan have continued to be the Philippines’ top trading partners, a number of new markets have been explored. Being engaged in business in its own right, the government owns such enterprises as the National Development Corporation, the Philippine Ports Authority, and the Philippine National Railways. Finally, it would be very important and even interesting to tell about the famous Asian financial crisis. Its beginning traces back to 2 July 1997.
That was the day when the Thai Government announced a managed float of the Baht. They were forced to call on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for technical assistance. That day the Baht fell around 20 per cent against the American dollar. This event became the impulse for the Asian currency crisis which triggered a rapid slow down in economic growth.. Within the year interest rates have been uncontrollably fluctuating up and down. With the sudden flight of speculative capital in July 1997 in the amount of $2 billion, the Philippine peso was devalued.
The Essay on Pacific Asias Economic Development
... Economic Development, All the Pacific Asian countries have a long history of economic ... were unable to raise capital to regain their crumbling economies ... Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ... banks to pay back money they owed in foreign denominations.Loan defaults and financial sectors bankruptcy resulted from the drop. Asian government ...
As a response to this, the government allowed banks to increase interest rates to control money supply and strengthen the peso. Also the Philippines faced a liquidity problem. In order to solve it, the administration increased interest rates on treasury bills to 20% so as to attract the capital. Although the Philippines has had significant troubles during its history, it has begun to pull together a strong government and economy. A strengthened labor system and industry is successfully beginning to decrease the poverty level. President Joseph Estrada is the ruler today.
He has definitely strong economic fundamentals and has made the interest rates fall to 9%. This figure is noticeably smaller than it has been under any other administrator in history. The economy and government of the islands are growing stronger with Estrada in office and the future of the Philipines gives hope to its people as well as the whole world community.
Bibliography:
Lee, Charles. The Next Domino? Far Eastern Economic Review. 20 November 1997, pp. 14-16.
Earl, Greg. IMF Solution Follows Wrong Track: Economists. Australian Financial Review, 19 November 1997, p. 13. Balisacan, Aresnio M. and Hal Hill. The Philippine Economy: Development, policies and challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
(2002)..
