CLARK FREEPORT – The Duterte administration’s top economic managers said here yesterday that the Philippines has emerged as the growth leader in the ASEAN pack amid projections that next only to India, the country would lead in economic growth in the Asian region.
In a forum called Sulong Pilipinas which they attended here, Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez noted projections made by the World Economic Outlook (WEO) that economic growth in the Philippines in 2019 would be at 6.6 percent, next only to India whose growth is projected at 7.4 percent.
The WEO projected 6.2 percent for China, 6.5 percent for Vietnam, 4.5 percent for Malaysia, 5.1 percent for Indonesia, 3.9 percent for Thailand, and 2.5 percent for Singapore.
For his part, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said “we are optimistic that our economy will sustain strong growth momentum. The Philippines is expected to remain one of the world´s strongest economies,” even as he projected lowering inflation rate by next year.
This, even as Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno said the government´s Build, Build, Build massive infrastructure program is expected not only to further boost the economy but also create about 1.1 million new jobs annually. He said the program would greatly solve poverty in the country.
Dominguez noted that the Philippines posted 6 percent growth rate in gross domestic project in the second quarter, which was among the highest in Asia.
“The Philippines average economic growth rate for the first half of the year was 6.3 percent,” he said.
The country´s growth rate for the April to June period outpaced Malaysia ´s 4.5 percent, Indonesia ´s 5.3, Thailand´s 4.6, South Korea´s 2.9, Singapore’s 0.6, Taiwan´s 3.3, and Japan´s 1.0, he noted.
Meanwhile, the BSP has released a report indicating that for the first semester of 2018, the net inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country reached $831 million in June, up by 9.2 percent year-on-year.
This brought the total net FDIs in the period January to June to about $5.8 billion, jumping by 42.4 percent over the same period last year, BSP noted.
