Yahoo Finance Philippine GDP Growth Exceeds 6% for a 10th Consecutive Quarter
By Cecilia Yap and Siegfrid Alegado
The Philippine economy grew more than 6 percent for a 10th consecutive quarter, on rising consumption and government spending.
Gross domestic product increased 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in Manila Tuesday, after expanding 7 percent in the previous three months. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 6.7 percent. The economy expanded 6.7 percent in 2017.
The Philippines, one of this decade’s economic stars, is set to keep its momentum with the World Bank predicting growth of more than 6 percent a year until 2019. President Rodrigo Duterte is reforming tax laws to boost the nation’s competitiveness and raise revenue, while pushing ahead with an ambitious $180 billion infrastructure program that includes Manila’s first subway.
A booming economy and a tax law that took effect in January, which include higher levies on oil and coal, have fueled speculation the Philippines will tighten monetary policy as early as the first quarter this year. The central bank is taking a cautious approach on tightening policy while not ruling out raising interest rates, Governor Nestor Espenilla said last week.
The peso has lost 2 percent this year, the worst performing currency in Asia, while the benchmark stock index surged to a record on Monday.
Other Details
Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of GDP, gained 6.1 percent from a year earlier
Government spending rose 14.3 percent
Investment increased 8.2 percent
To contact the reporters on this story: Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net; Siegfrid Alegado in Manila at aalegado1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net; Karl Lester M. Yap
© 2018 Bloomberg L.P
