Philippine economy will continue to grow in 2016

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines economy will continue to grow next year as the upcoming election season is seen to boost domestic consumption, a main economic driver.

Michael Gerard Enriquez, chief investments officer of Sun Life Financial, projected yesterday the upcoming elections will have a positive impact on the economy.

“Definitely our outlook for next year remains to be bullish in terms of the growth of the economy,” Enriquez said in a market briefing yesterday in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

Enriquez said that election years in the past had seen stronger growth in terms of gross domestic product, an indicator of economic health that measures the value of final goods and services produced by a country.

Enriquez said that election spending will further drive domestic consumption.

He noted the remittances or money sent home by overseas Filipino workers and the business process outsourcing revenues are two factors driving consumption growth in recent years.

The official added that the country’s manageable inflation and supportive demographics continue to sustain its economic health.

He also pointed out the increased capital expenditures of large companies are also driving growth, with new jobs created for the people.

He also stressed the government should continue to improve its spending especially in infrastructure, noting it has higher tax revenues now.

He said infrastructure spending is critical for the country to sustain its growth in the next years.

Philippine GDP accelerated to 6% in the third quarter, the highest growth so far in 2015, the government earlier reported.

The Q3 growth was higher than the previous quarter’s revised 5.8% and the 5.5% expansion recorded in the same period last year.

In the first nine months of the year, economic expansion grew 5.6%, lower than the 5.9% recorded in the same period last year. – Carlo S. Lorenciana (FREEMAN)