The Philippine economy grew more than six percent for a ninth consecutive quarter, cementing its position as one of the fastest-expanding in the world.
Key Points Gross domestic product increased 6.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in Manila Thursday, after expanding a revised 6.7 percent in the previous three months. The median estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 6.6 percent.
Big Picture
The Philippines is emerging as one of this decade’s economic stars with the World Bank predicting growth of more than six percent until 2019, underpinned by an ambitious infrastructure building program and a young and growing population. President Rodrigo Duterte has secured loans from China and Japan to help finance 180 billion dollars of spending on projects such as the capital’s first subway and a network of railways and highways across the archipelago.
More than 50 billion dollars of remittances and outsourcing revenue a year is helping support consumer spending, and luring retailers such as home furnishing giant Ikea. The central bank has so far kept interest rates at a record low, bolstering spending, but may be persuaded to tighten policy next year as currency weakness adds to pressure on inflation. The peso has dropped to an 11-year low this year and is the worst performing unit in Asia.
Other Details
Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of GDP, gained 4.5 percent from a year earlier Government spending rose 8.3 percent Capital formation investment increased 6.6 percent. – Bloomberg
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