Good news from the Philippines.
According to Tradingeconomics.com, the Philippines’ GDP per capita last recorded a record high of US$2,891.36 in 2017. This is well above the common of US$1,627.98 for the period 1960-2017.
Filipinos fare higher when GDP per capita is adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). That measure also reached a record $7,599.19 in 2017, well above the common of $4,969.71 for the 1990-2017 period.
To be fair, comparing GDP per capita in USD across time periods is a difficult task. The numbers will be distorted by population growth and currency fluctuations. For example, the expansion in GDP per capita within the Philippines has been helped by a slowdown in population growth. This can be an ongoing trend that will be traced back to the Aquino administration, which brought macroeconomic stability to the country.
“Aquino is delegating power to competent technocrats and appears to understand what needs to be done to bring back the light,” Ruchir Sharma wrote in Break Out Nations.
Macroeconomic stability has helped the Philippine economy show great resilience lately. At the top of 2017, it grew by 6.9% year-on-year within the September quarter, the strongest growth for the reason that third quarter of 2016. And the Philippine economy was still growing at 6% at the top of 2018.
Tracing GDP per capita growth for the reason that Aquino era definitely raises the query: Who should take credit for record-breaking GDP per capita: Aquino or Duterte?
Meanwhile, a recent McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) study placed the Philippines among the many few emerging market economies which can be well-positioned to attain sustainable growth over the following decade.
This was on account of the rise in gross fixed capital formation (investment). It reached PHP695,414.08 million within the second quarter of 2018 from about PHP450,000 million in July 2015 – significantly above PHP303,138.16 million within the period from 1998 to 2018 and the all-time high.
Still, the Philippines’ GDP per capita is 23% of the worldwide average, leaving Filipinos relatively poor. And rising living costs in recent months have worsened their plight. The Philippines’ annual inflation rate rose to six.7% in September 2018 from 6.4% in August, compared with market expectations of 6.8%.
This is the best result since February 2009, driven by rising food, transport and utility prices.
Inflation, in addition to revolution and corruption, have hindered the Philippines’ economic development before and can accomplish that again if these problems usually are not effectively addressed.
Source: Trading Economics | Forbes
