Philippines one of ASEAN’S fastest-growing economies – AMRO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to remain among the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia this year, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus 3 (ASEAN+3) Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

The January Update of the AMRO’s ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook released yesterday showed the Philippine economy is projected to expand by 6.3 percent this year from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in 2024.

The forecasts are unchanged from those provided by AMRO last month.

Should AMRO’s growth forecast for the Philippines for 2024 be realized, the country will have the second highest growth in Southeast Asia next to Vietnam, which is expected to have posted 7.1 percent growth last year.

AMRO’s 2025 growth forecast for the Philippines also places the country second to Vietnam, which is forecasted to grow by 6.5 percent this year.

“The Philippines is one of the faster growing economies in the region,” AMRO chief economist Hoe Ee Khor said in a briefing yesterday.

He said the Philippines is expected to expand at a faster pace this year from 2024 as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has started cutting interest rates to boost the economy.

Last year, the central bank’s Monetary Board delivered a total of 75 basis points in rate cuts, bringing the benchmark policy rate to 5.75 percent.

While the Philippines is expected to be the second-fastest growing economy in ASEAN in 2024 and this year, AMRO’s growth forecasts are below the government’s growth targets.

The Philippine government’s revised growth target for 2024 is six to 6.5 percent.

For this year, the Philippine government is aiming for six to eight percent growth.

From January to September last year, Philippine economic growth averaged 5.8 percent.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the Philippines likely missed its growth target last year citing the impact of the typhoons that hit the country.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is expected to report on the country’s 2024 economic performance later this month.