CLARK FREEPORT- Despite the global recession, a leading Filipino economist told investors in this freeport yesterday that “fun times have just begun” for the business process outsourcing (BPO) in the country.
In his lecture before Clark investors during an economic briefing here, Dr. Emilio Antonio, president of the Center for Research and Communication Foundation, Inc. (CRC) and former dean of the school of economics of the University of Asia and the Pacific, downplayed the effects of the worldwide crisis in the Philippines.
“Our economic records suggest unappreciated gains amidst exaggerated gains,” he said, noting that “problems are bigger in our minds than what facts suggest.”
Antonio noted that the Philippine economy “is in better position to cope with the current economic turbulence”, as he cited the Arroyo government’s “good cash position and surplus of income over spending.
He also noted that amid layoffs in other sectors, the BPO industry “is just starting” and is likely to grow in the country amid “availability and drop in cost of telecommunication and differences in wage costs (between the Philippines and other countries).”
“Only about four percent of potential BPO market (in the US) has been tapped and the Philippines serves basically the US market,” he noted.
Antonio said that the BPO sector is not likely to be adversely affected by the recession in the US.
“The key driver of growth is the cost-saving advantage of outsourcing amid huge untapped potential. Slowdown in business activities as demand driver is easily offset by the move towards outsourcing of existing businesses,” he said,
Antonio also said that the possibility that US recession would “infect” the Philippines is “remote”. This, he noted, is because the Philippines’ is just a “small exporter” to the US and that Filipinos working there as nurses and teachers are not likely to be fired.
He also said he expected the peso to weaken against the US dollar in the range of P52 or P54 to the dollar, but that this would make exports more competitive in the international market.
He also said he expected the government to post higher deficits, “but it will not be alarmingly big”.
Antonio also expressed doubts that such deficits would push up interest rates. “High savings rate will mitigate pressures on interest,” he said, even as he also expressed doubts that inflation, which was noted at 8 percent last December, could be “rekindled as prices of crude oil and rice have stabilized.
Antonio urged the public “keep your cool and check your facts”, as he warned that “politicians who are positioning themselves for 2010 would insist that we are on the brink of big economic disaster.”
In his lecture before Clark investors during an economic briefing here, Dr. Emilio Antonio, president of the Center for Research and Communication Foundation, Inc. (CRC) and former dean of the school of economics of the University of Asia and the Pacific, downplayed the effects of the worldwide crisis in the Philippines.
“Our economic records suggest unappreciated gains amidst exaggerated gains,” he said, noting that “problems are bigger in our minds than what facts suggest.”
Antonio noted that the Philippine economy “is in better position to cope with the current economic turbulence”, as he cited the Arroyo government’s “good cash position and surplus of income over spending.
He also noted that amid layoffs in other sectors, the BPO industry “is just starting” and is likely to grow in the country amid “availability and drop in cost of telecommunication and differences in wage costs (between the Philippines and other countries).”
“Only about four percent of potential BPO market (in the US) has been tapped and the Philippines serves basically the US market,” he noted.
Antonio said that the BPO sector is not likely to be adversely affected by the recession in the US.
“The key driver of growth is the cost-saving advantage of outsourcing amid huge untapped potential. Slowdown in business activities as demand driver is easily offset by the move towards outsourcing of existing businesses,” he said,
Antonio also said that the possibility that US recession would “infect” the Philippines is “remote”. This, he noted, is because the Philippines’ is just a “small exporter” to the US and that Filipinos working there as nurses and teachers are not likely to be fired.
He also said he expected the peso to weaken against the US dollar in the range of P52 or P54 to the dollar, but that this would make exports more competitive in the international market.
He also said he expected the government to post higher deficits, “but it will not be alarmingly big”.
Antonio also expressed doubts that such deficits would push up interest rates. “High savings rate will mitigate pressures on interest,” he said, even as he also expressed doubts that inflation, which was noted at 8 percent last December, could be “rekindled as prices of crude oil and rice have stabilized.
Antonio urged the public “keep your cool and check your facts”, as he warned that “politicians who are positioning themselves for 2010 would insist that we are on the brink of big economic disaster.”
