PH seen among ‘brighter spots’ in global economy

The Philippines and other emerging economies such as Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Poland are deemed the “brighter spots” in the global economy given their resilience from external shocks, according to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).

“As has been the case in Europe over the past 20 years—and in the emerging world, too—the smaller countries have shown the way in spurring economic reforms and laying down the groundwork for steady growth. In assembling a future road map, we might do worse than focusing on the P Group of emerging market economies such as Peru, Paraguay, Poland and the Philippines,” OMFIF managing director David Marsh said in a commentary titled “Message for the future: Peruse the P Group” released on Oct. 12.

“The six countries… have disparate GDP (gross domestic product) sizes, from $30 billion-$40 billion in the case of Paraguay and Panama to $200 billion-$500 billion for Peru, Pakistan, Philippines and Poland. They, however, show important common factors. They are all registering annual growth rates comfortably above 3 percent; they benefit from growing populations, especially of the middle class; they have weathered softer commodity prices relatively well; they have introduced beneficial program to improve the workings of product and labor markets; and they are implementing generally sensible monetary and fiscal policies,” Marsh said.

For OMFIF, these countries’ most important strength was that “they have overcome the ‘tyranny of geography,’ using the advantages of globalization to escape regional drawbacks.”

In the case of the Philippines, Marsh said the country “does not need to fear ripples from a Chinese slowdown unduly.”

The other “P Group” countries are likewise resilient from their neighbors’ economic troubles, OMFIF noted. “Poland no longer has to be overburdened by its proximity to Ukraine and Russia. Paraguay can sidestep being sandwiched between the faltering economies of Brazil and Argentina.”

“Watchers of the global economy should upgrade their lexicon of useful acronyms—for names to follow, the message is this: peruse the P Group,” Marsh said.

On its website, OMFIF said it was “an independent platform for dialogue and research” that “serves as a non-lobbying network for worldwide public-private sector interaction in finance and economics.”