MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is set for higher growth this year with the government bent on accelerating spending to pump prime the economy and counter the impact of a weak global environment, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Friday.

The government, criticized for weak spending that pulled down overall economic growth in 2011, committed to front-load spending of its 1.8 trillion pesos ($42 billion) budget early this year to ensure growth will top that of 2011.

''I don't think 5 percent and 6 percent (growth target) is ambitious,'' Abad told Reuters in an interview.

''Remittances will continue to grow, BPOs (business process outsourcing) will continue to grow. We have a bigger budget now and the execution will be much better and it will happen in the first semester,'' Abad said.

Weak government spending and sluggish exports to developed economies hurt overall growth in 2011, which came in at 3.7 percent, way below a  government target of 4.5 to 5.5 percent, but in line with market forecasts.

Last year's slower-than-targeted growth occurred even as the government had committed to spend an extra P85 billion in the last three months of last year, mostly on infrastructure projects that can could be built quickly.

Abad admitted he was disappointed with the growth performance last year, but the economy should gather steam in 2012 as the government started spending for roads, bridges, airports, classrooms, flood control systems as early as last month.

The economy, Abad said should also benefit from the impact of the previous quarter's extra spending, with government agencies yet to fully utilize the P85 billion, and Manila's much-awaited public-private partnership (PPPs) initiative.

''We have carry over stimulus program that will further impact on growth and then PPPs are also going to start creating some impact on the economy,'' Abad said.

The budget department has released funding for infrastructure projects worth P150 billion in January, after President Aquino signed the 2012 budget into law in December, the earliest in many years, Abad said.

Total infrastructure spending this year was set at P182.2 billion, up 25.6 percent from last year.

Manila has also allocated P22 billion to pay for right of way and clearing of development sites to fastrack its PPP projects under its 2012 budget.

''Last year, we had a very low budget deficit, so the challenge for us this year is how to stay within the (2012) cap,'' Abad said.

The Southeast Asian economy set a budget deficit target of P279 billion, or 2.6 percent of GDP this year, higher than last year's estimated shortfall of P192 billion, or 2 percent of GDP.

With the economy expected to gain momentum this year, Abad said the government was confident it could secure a credit rating upgrade as early as in the first half of 2012. (Reuters)