The Philippine economy grew at its slowest pace in 11 years in 2009 as the global economic crunch hit exports and investment, officials said Thursday. Growth in gross domestic product faded to 0.9 percent in 2009 from 3.8 percent in 2008 – the weakest since the economy shrank 0.6 percent in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Last year's growth was still within the government's 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent target and shows the economy's resilience, said acting National Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos. “More importantly, our eco-nomy has never entered into a recession despite the odds,” Santos said. “Our economy has proven itself resilient, and elections will bring fresh mandates and new energy to our society. We are thus optimistic.” The slow growth last year was largely due to poor performance across numerous sectors of the economy, said Romulo Virola, secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board.
