World Bank Lowered Its 2019 Growth Forecast Of The Philippines
The World Bank has lowered its forecast on Philippine Economy growth. They cited the delayed passage of the 2019 national budget and the spending ban on new projects before the May midterm elections earlier this year as the root cause.
The senior economist of the World Bank, Rong Qian, stated that the growth will likely be at 5.8 percent this year instead of 6.4 percent. The government had set a growth target of 6 percent to 7 percent for 2019.
The country’s growth is expected to recover to 6.1 percent in 2020 and 6.2 percent in 2021 if there is no delay in the passage of the 2020 national spending plan, the World Bank added.
While the Philippines’ revenue collection has improved due to the first tax reform package, its disbursement “remains disappointing.” The country also continues to suffer from a lack of competition, based on their analysis.
“Philippine manufacturing markets are more concentrated than those of region peers, with a higher proportion of monopoly, duopoly, and oligopoly markets,” Qian said.
The World Bank also urged the government to review state-owned businesses as it said at least 11 out of 17 non-infrastructure sectors surveyed are controlled by the government.
[Source]
Leave your comment