Economic growth in the Philippines eased to an 11-year low of 0.9 per cent in 2009, dragged down by the global financial crisis and a series of destructive storms, dpa quoted the government as saying. The 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was lower than the 3.8 per cent in 2008, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said. The growth was the lowest since 1998, when the economy contracted 0.6 per cent due to the Asian financial crisis. NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola said gross national product, which includes remittances from overseas Filipinos, also slowed down in 2009, growing only 3 per cent compared to 6.2 per cent in the previous year. Virola said the 2009 GDP growth was within the government's target of between 0.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent. The agriculture sector, battered by tropical storm Ketsana and Parma in September and October, eked out a growth of 0.1 per cent while the industry sector declined by 1.1 per cent. The services sector remained the saving factor in the country's economy, expanding 5 per cent in 2009. Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said the economy has shown some signs of recovery in the last quarter of 2009, posting a GDP growth of 1.8 per cent year-on-year. Santos said the economy's performance in the 4th quarter was stronger compared to the first three quarters of 2009, when GDP grew by an average of half a per cent.
