OECD forecast: PH to lead growth rate in SE Asia

In this photo taken Oct. 9, 2014, workers are working on one of about a hundred projects to control flooding in Metro Manila. The Philippines has the most favorable growth rate in Southeast Asia in the next five years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. AFP PHOTO/Jay DIRECTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines has the most favorable growth rate in Southeast Asia in the next five years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.

The 2015 edition of the OECD Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India, which gave a rosy forecast of the Philippines, was issued during the three-day Asean Trade and Investment Summit at Nyapyitaw, Burma, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

“This is the first time since the Outlook was first published in 2010 that the Philippines has the best growth forecast among the Asean-5 countries,” the DFA said.

According to the forecast, the Asean-5 economies—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam—will “sustain their growth momentum in the medium term” from 2015 to 2019.

The growth in the region will be “led by the Philippines and Indonesia,” said OECD, an economic organization of 34 countries based in Paris.

The growth momentum for the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) remains “robust” and is expected to average at 5.6 percent in the next five years, the group said.

“Among the Asean-5 countries, the Philippines has the best growth perspective with an average growth forecast of 6.2 percent for 2015 to 2019,” the DFA said, citing the OECD outlook.

Growth forecasts for the other Asean-5 countries are 6.0 percent for Indonesia, 5.7 percent for Vietnam, 5.6 percent for Malaysia and 4.1 percent for Thailand. The growth forecast for China is 6.8 percent.

The OECD Economic Outlook is an annual publication on Asia’s economic growth, development and regional integration process. It also deals with relevant economic issues in China and India in order to fully reflect economic developments in the region.–Niña P. Calleja

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