Philippine Economy Grows At 6.7% In 2017

Written by Marc Adrian

The Philippines is one of the fastest growing countries in Asia in 2017, with a rate of 6.7%, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Ernesto Pernia.

He added that it was a strong finish for the Philippines in 2017 that helped it keep its position as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, just trailing behind China (6.9%) and Vietnam (6.8%).

Despite falling a little short on its target, which was the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Philippines in 2016 (6.9%), the country still remains to be “on target.”  It is still considered as good performance, because normally on post-election years, the country’s GDP tend to decline drastically, said Pernia.

Pernia further explained that GDP growth was at 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to the 7.0% in the third quarter. He pointed out that there is usually an economic slowdown in the fourth quarter of the year.

Among the best performing sectors in the fourth quarter is industry, which grew by 7.3%, followed by services, up 6.8%, and agriculture, which went up by 2.4%, rebounding from a 1.3% decline in the same quarter last year.

Pernia is hoping that in the medium term, the economic growth in 2018 will shift its trajectory upwards. He added that the Duterte administration’s big-ticket “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, which includes 75 “high-impact flagship projects” worth over P1.81 trillion, will continue its momentum of providing more opportunities for the country.

The government is committed to making economic growth inclusive, with the help of the tax reform law. He also said that they remain mindful of the fact that growth should be felt by every Filipino.

[Source]