The International Monetary Fund had expected the Philippine economy to have expanded by 6 percent in the first quarter on account of robust household consumption and government spending. Shanaka Peiris, IMF resident representative to the Philippines, said that based on their preliminary assessment, strong domestic consumption and public-sector investments more than offset the adverse [...]
Despite the recent preview of more foreigner-friendly ownership rules in local utilities, the Philippines is still not ready to join a multilateral trade deal that includes major economies like the United States, Australia and Singapore.
The peso strengthened on the first trading day of the week as the World Bank reiterated its projection on the Philippines likely keeping its growth robust and within the 6-percent territory in 2013 and 2014.
To the President: Make agriculture and tourism the priority sectors for infrastructure support and development to create more jobs.
Hounded by criticism that economic growth has not resulted in jobs, President Aquino said on Tuesday that jobs have always been available, but that job applicants have not been able to provide the skills required for employment.
Local stocks are seen continuing to trade with an upward bias this week on the back of the strong sentiment in Wall Street and the rosy outlook on local economic and corporate earnings prospects this year.
Living up to President Aquino’s advance information that the numbers would impress, the Philippine economy expanded 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, lifting full-year growth to 6.6 percent.
Goldman Sachs expects the Philippine economy to move to a higher growth trend while the peso will continue to gain strength.
The country’s chief economist said the impressive 6.5-percent growth for 2012 should be sustained for several years to allow it to seep through the grassroots and benefit ordinary Filipinos.
Visiting American economist Nouriel Roubini hailed the Philippines as an “economic success,” citing the country’s potential to move toward a higher growth rate of at least 7 percent a year.
“All of us will be impressed,” President Aquino said Tuesday of the report on the full-year economic growth rate in 2012, which the government planning agency is set to release Thursday.
Benefiting from robust consumer spending and improving investment climate, the Philippine economy was expected to have maintained a robust 6.5-percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 and remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
