UN agency sees 6.8% growth rate for Philippines in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — A United Nations agency has kept its 2018 growth estimate for the Philippines, amid broadly stable outlook for economic growth in the Asia Pacific region.

The Philippine economy will likely grow by 6.8 percent this year and beat the 6.7 percent actual expansion in 2017, said the report released by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

The ESCAP’s forecast was steady from its estimate last December. If realized, it would miss the Philippine government’s 7-8 percent growth target for 2018 until 2022.

For 2019, the ESCAP said the economy might grow at a faster rate of 6.9 percent, still below the government’s expectation.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s aggregate growth rate might hit 5.1 percent this year and 5.2 percent next.

The Duterte administration plans to spend more than P8 trillion to upgrade the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure and aging ports, and spur gross domestic product expansion until 2022.

The Asian Development Bank expects the Philippine economy to expand 6.8 percent and 6.9 percent in 2018 and 2019, respectively, while the World Bank said that in 2018 and 2019, the economy will likely grow 6.7 percent before moderating to 6.6 percent in 2020.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund retained its GDP growth projection for the Philippines at 6.7 percent in 2018 and 6.8 percent next year.