More People Eating Out Reflects the Country’s Growing Economy — Lopez
Want proof of the country’s growing economy? Just look at the higher number of people eating out in restaurants nowadays according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
“Yung mga dating ‘di kumakain sa labas, kumakain na sa fast food. Yung mga kumakain sa fast food, kumakain na sa mga eat-all-you-can. Yung mga kumakain sa eat-all-you-can, kumakain na sa mas mamahaling restaurant. Parang lahat po ay medyo nag-uupgrade (Those who did not eat outside, now eat fast food. Those who used to eat fast food, now eat at eat-all-you-can. Those who used to eat at eat-all-you-can, now eat at a more expensive restaurant. It seems like everyone has upgraded.),” said Lopez in a radio interview.
“Sa mga talaan natin, yung eating out sa mga restaurants, yan po ang isa sa mga lumalaki. Characteristic po ng growing economy, ng growing middle class (In our records, the number of people eating out of restaurants is rising. That’s a characteristic of a growing economy, a growing middle class),” he said.
Lopez also mentioned a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey showing that many Filipinos have transitioned out of poverty, which implies that people have more money now than before.
“Huling survey ng SWS, maraming nagsabi na hindi sila mahirap ngayon. Ibig sabihin, bumaba na yung nagsasabi na mas mahirap sila ngayon. Ibig sabihin ho, mas marami silang hawak ng pera (In the last SWS survey, a lot of people said that they are not poor anymore. That means that the number of those who consider themselves poor is now decreasing. That means the people have more money),” said Lopez.
The Trade Secretary also pointed out the 8% growth in the manufacturing sector, which led to the lower unemployment rate.
“Kung paguusapan ang industry, 8% growth tayo sa manufacturing. Ibig sabihin, lumalago ang pabrika, lumalago din ho yung employment dun. Kaya ho nakabawas sa unemployment. Yung investment, pumapasok din (When you talk about industry, we have 8% growth in manufacturing. This means that there are more job opportunities, which helps reduce unemployment. Investments are also coming in),” he said.
“Yung FDI (Foreign Direct Investments), nag-grow tayo sa almost 20% versus last year, considering the whole year ng 2017 (The FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) grew by almost 20% from last year, considering the whole year of 2017).”
“Ang ganitong pangyayari sa ating foreign exchange, nakakabuti rin ho yan. ‘Di naman po automatic na masama yun dahil yan po ay nagpapagana ng export (This development with our foreign exchange is also very good. ‘That’s not automatically bad since it helps our exporting),” explained Lopez in regards with the peso-dollar exchange rate
He even added that the higher the peso-dollar exchange rate is, the better for the export sector, which benefits the local manufacturing sector.
“Mahihikayat yan ang local manufacturers na mag-invest pa dahil parang may proteksyon sila sa import. Ito po yung matagal na nating kinakailangan para, in the long term, lumalaki ang production sector natin (Local manufacturers will be encouraged to invest more since they have protection over imports. This is what we were hoping for. To make our production sector grow in the long term),” Lopez said.
via Inquirer / Syrah Vivien Inocencio
