Diokno: PH growth above 6% in Q1

NADI, Fiji—The Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) likely grew above 6 percent in the first quarter, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said, even as the government operated with a reenacted budget at the start of the year and spent short on public goods and services.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s 52nd Annual Meeting on Saturday, Diokno noted that the country’s chief economist, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, earlier projected growth of about 6 percent for the January to March period, below the downgraded 6.5-7.5 percent full-year growth target.

But Diokno told the Inquirer: “I think it’s [first-quarter GDP expansion of] slightly above 6 percent.”

The government will report the country’s first-quarter GDP performance on May 9, Thursday.

Economists polled by the Inquirer also see first-quarter growth at 6 percent or above, except for Capital Economics Asia economist Alex Holmes, who had the lowest forecast at 5.4 percent.

“Growth in the Philippines is set to have slowed quite sharply in the first quarter, as government spending has been curtailed by budget delays. We have penciled in a fall from 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018. With the 2019 budget now passed, growth should rebound in the second quarter,” Holmes said.