A PARTY-LIST congressman has warned government of possible slow economic growth in the coming days, that is why he is urging the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to consider lowering key interest rates.

Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said that the purpose of lowering the interest rates is to mitigate peso appreciation.

Haresco said a strong peso would also further dampen demand for Philippine exports from Europe, which was ravaged by the debt crisis, and the slow U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, he warned that the country should prepare for the effects of an extended European economic downturn which would also dampen the export-oriented Asia-pacific economies of Japan, China, India and Korea.

Haresco said that this austere economic outlook may also limit the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to between 3 and 4 percent.

Also a strong peso, according to Haresco, reduces the effective purchasing power of overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) earnings.

“It’s disheartening for the 8 to 11 million heroes to see their purchasing power evaporate by some 25 percent per year, and in the face of constantly increasing gasoline and power costs,” he said.

On the other hand, while the BPO sector in the Philippines, which contributed about $11 billion to the country’s GDP last year, is unfazed by U.S. President Obama’s announcement to withdraw benefits for U.S. jobs located abroad, it was too early to predict the net effect.

But given the U.S. 8.3 percent unemployment rate, it’s reasonable to assume that some jobs will be repatriated, to the possible detriment of the BPO sector here, he added.

He reiterated that the solution is still “government spending,” which would serve to “pump-prime” the economy by creating jobs and stimulating demand internally.

Haresco said that the initial release of over P150.1 billion for public infrastructure projects was a step to achieve the target of 5 to 6 percent GDP growth rate this year, but warned that the economy may “stall” if no sustained measures are taken for continued economic stimulation.