Phillippines
PHILLIPINES Country Fact Sheet Population 82,841,518 (2001) Population Growth 1.76% (average, 1997-2001) Land Area 300,000 sq km Currency 50.99 / 1 pesos / $US (2001 - average) GDP - PPP Method $283,945 (millions of 1995 dollars U.S.) GDP Growth 2.49% (average, 1997-2001); 3.40% (2001) GDP Per Head $3,428 (2001 data estimated in 1995 dollars U.S.) Inflation 8.43% (average, 1997-2001); 16.33% (2001 average) Background The Philippine economy is based upon agriculture, light industry and supporting services. In 1998, it slowed sharply as a result of spillover from the Asian financial crisis and El Nino-related weather conditions, although the contraction in the Philippines was not as severe as in other East and Southeast Asian countries during the Crisis. The country had not grown as rapidly as some of its neighbors, had not experienced the same scale of foreign short term capital rushing in during the boom years of the mid-1990s and had a better capitalized and supervised banking sector that served to cushion the economy from the worst of the "Asian contagion." But, like many of its developing Asian neighbors, it did have a large current account deficit. The lasting legacy of the Asian financial crisis in the Philippines has been much like it is across the region—a sharp swing in the current account from deficit to surplus and a very sizable depreciation of the peso against the major world currencies. In 1996, the average exchange value of the peso was P26.2/US$; in 2001, that value was P51/US$. Accordingly, the peso lost half its international purchasing power as measured in US dollars.