The Philippine economy exceeded expectations in the primary quarter, providing one other argument for the central bank to concentrate on tackling one in every of the fastest-rising inflation rates in Southeast Asia.
Gross domestic product grew 8.3 percent from a yr ago within the three months through March, compared with a median growth forecast of 6.8 percent in a Bloomberg survey, in accordance with the Philippine Statistics Authority. According to revised data, the economy contracted by 3.8% in the identical quarter of 2021.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, meets on May 19 amid heightened expectations of an rate of interest hike aimed toward curbing price increases that, if left unchecked, could threaten the country’s economic recovery.
“This solid economic recovery coupled with above-target inflation indicates policy normalization on the part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” said Nicholas Mapa, senior Philippines economist at ING, as quoted within the note by Aljazeera.com.
“Philippines Governor BSP Diokno has kept interest rates steady to support the country’s economic recovery. However, with GDP returning to pre-Covid-19 levels and inflation rising, we fully expect the BSP to raise interest rates at its May 19 meeting next week.”
According to Standard Chartered Bank experts, after first quarter, the Philippine economy will grow by 8% this yr.
Standard Chartered’s chief economist for Southeast Asia and India Edward Lee and economist Jonathan Koh said in a survey that the corporate raised its GDP growth forecast for the Philippines to eight% in 2022 from 7.5% previously.
The forecast is inside economic managers’ goal of 7-9 percent.
With these numbers, the Philippines may have one in every of the best GDP growth rates on the planet in 2022. Other aspects influencing the market will probably be expectations regarding rate of interest increases in June, in addition to the newly elected president of the country.]
Source: Bloomberg.com, Aljazeera.com, bworldonline.com
