Vol. XXII, No. 34
Thursday, September 11, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
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Today’s Headlines
Development being held back by ‘anti-countryside bias’
THE GOVERNMENT should increase its support for the countryside in terms of providing more funds for infrastructure and proactive intervention if it wants to lift more Filipinos out of poverty, a former Cabinet official yesterday said.
Provincial areas, economist Cielito F. Habito told a forum hosted by the Ateneo Professional Schools, appear to have been left behind given an "anti-countryside bias of economic policies, interventions and outcomes".
Recent moves to mitigate the impact of high food and fuel prices, for example, seem to have worked in favor of people in Metro Manila as reflected in higher inflation rates in the provinces.
Inflation went up to a new near 17-year high of 12.5% in August. The year-on-year rise in areas outside the National Capital Region was 14.2% for the month, higher than the metropolis’ 8.7%.
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