The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised upwards its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this yr and 2018. The country is anticipated to be a pacesetter in economic expansion amongst emerging ASEAN economies.
The country is anticipated to learn from the federal government’s initiatives on infrastructure and tax reform. The Philippine government is making progress in increasing infrastructure investment, the multilateral lender noted.
“Growth projections have been raised from 6.4 percent to 6.5 percent for 2017 and from 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent for 2018,” the Manila-based ADB said in its report. Asia Development Forecasts Supplement released on Thursday.
The ADB’s updated 2017 growth forecast for the Philippines was higher than that of Vietnam (6.5 percent), Indonesia (5.1 percent), Malaysia (4.7 percent), Thailand (3.5 percent) and Singapore (2.4 percent).
The ADB also raised its growth forecast for 2018 to six.7 percent from the previous 6.6 percent.
During a separate briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the ADB is anticipated to take care of its cautious growth forecast.
“Our target for this year is 6.5 to 7.5 percent,” Pernia said, as quoted by GMA News Online.
The Philippine government has set a gross domestic product (GDP) growth goal of 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2017 and seven to eight percent in 2018.
The report also said: “The government is making progress in increasing infrastructure investment. In addition, a tax reform, prone to be approved within the second half of 2017, will liberate purchasing power in 2018 through lower personal income taxes.”
According to Manila TimesThe current government intends to allocate 847 billion pesos for infrastructure development this yr, which is able to cover projects in all regions, including small, medium and large-scale developments, to realize a targeted infrastructure spending to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 5.3 percent.
Under the “Build, Build, Build” component of the federal government’s economic reform program called Dutertenomics, the administration plans to spend 8.4 trillion pesos on infrastructure over six years through 2022.
“Asia’s growth has started well this year, with improved exports driving growth prospects for the rest of 2017. Despite ongoing uncertainty about the strength of the global recovery, we believe the region’s economies are well-positioned to withstand potential shocks to the outlook,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. Inquirer.
