PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III thanked International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde for her confidence in the Philippines during their meeting on the sidelines of the President’s attendance to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
President Aquino met with Lagarde on Thursday evening (Swiss time). The meeting took about 40 minutes, according to Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang.
“It was basically a courtesy call; they exchanged pleasantries. Ms. Lagarde informed the President that the IMF had upgraded the growth projections for the Philippines,” Carandang told members of the Philippine media in Davos, Switzerland.
“They (IMF) said that based on their analysis, things were looking very positive for the Philippines, and that they were confident that the growth targets could be attained, given the momentum that we‘ve had,” he added.
IMF has raised its economic growth forecast for the Philippines for 2013 to 6 percent from 4.8 percent.
Carandang said IMF increased its 2013 forecast for the country because “they expect growth to be faster than they initially expected.” He said that President Aquino, in turn, thanked Lagarde for her confidence in the Philippines.
During their meeting, President Aquino shared his government’s efforts to bring about growth through wise spending of government expenditures and leveling the playing field to encourage more investors, said Carandang.
The Secretary said the President also commended the IMF chief. “Ms. Lagarde has a tough job because it is her job to convince world leaders to make difficult choices. He commended her for being able to do that in such an effective way,” he said.
Also present in the meeting were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Secretary Cesar Purisima, Secretary Gregory Domingo, Secretary Rene Almendras and Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. (PND)
