Govt eyes growth boost from improved spending

THE government is banking on faster budget execution and stronger project implementation to help accelerate economic growth after a first-quarter slump, a Cabinet official said. “We really would like to catch up after the first quarter growth and the inflation that we've had,” Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon told reporters last week. “[W]e're trying to really be bullish about it and utilize whatever we can utilize to support the economy,” he added. Gross domestic prod