The Philippine government might slow down on its stimulus program in the middle of this year following the 0.9-percent domestic growth in 2009, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said Thursday.

The Philippine economy grew 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 0.9 percent for the full year, the government announced at a press briefing on Thursday.

The Philippine economy is expected to strengthen further as the country's trading partners also recover from the global downturn, Olivar said, adding, "We have certainly survived the worst of the recession."

Olivar said the economy's growth drivers include the exports, manufacturing sectors, tourism, "sunshine sectors" such as business processing outsourcing, and overseas remittances.

He said the country's central bank is expecting higher inflation in January of about 4.5-5.4 percent due to the hikes in the prices of some commodities such as rice, sugar and oil.

The bank considers that moderate and predictable inflation is consistent with economic growth and that there should not be too much stimulus.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2010)