Philippines

IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said July 30 the Philippine economy is headed in the right direction, but Manila’s policymakers need to stay focused on fiscal discipline while ensuring that the benefits of growth are spread equally. Meanwhile, the World Bank said it has asked the Philippines to make better use of hundreds of millions of dollars lent by the multilateral agency every year. For 2007, just 15.2 percent of the total aid pledged by the World Bank had been disbursed so far, slower than in the previous year and below the 20 percent agreed target, it said in a statement (Dow Jones, AFP)