MANILA, Philippines — Philippine economic growth will likely hit the lower end of the government’s 6%-7% annual target this year as state spending recovers, a regional think tank said.
In a statement, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, or AMRO, said it forecast the Philippine economy to expand 6% in 2019 and 6.4% in 2020, “marking a rebound from slowdown caused by the budget delay and spending freeze before the mid-term election.”
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The goverment is aiming to hit growth rates of 6%-7% in 2019, 6.5%-7.5% in 2020 and 7%-8% from 2021 to 2022.
But AMRO said external headwinds like the US-China trade war and Brexit could weigh on the country’s growth and trigger financial market volatilities.
“Policies should be calibrated to address these challenges,” said Siu Fung Yiu, lead economist at AMRO.
Gross domestic product — or the value of all finished goods and services produced in the country — eased to 5.6% in the first three months of 2019 after a spat among lawmakers stalled the approval of the new national budget, leaving fresh projects unfunded and crimping state spending.
Socioeconomic Planning chief Ernesto Pernia said the economy would have to grow by an average of 6.4% in the second half to hit the low-end of the state’s 6%-7% annual target.
