Firms increase growth forecast for the Philippines

A survey revealed that 46 percent of the adult population is optimistic that the Philippine economy will improve in the next year

A survey conducted by the Social Weather Situation (SWS), which was conducted on 19 to 27 April, revealed that nearly half of the adult population, or 46 percent, is optimistic that the Philippine economy will improve in the next year.

On the other hand, 28 percent think the economy will stay the same while six percent believe that it will get worse, reported Yahoo! News.

It also showed that the Net Economic Optimism score is at +40, which, according to the firm, is “excellent.” This is connected to the April 2022 Personal Optimism survey, which mentioned that 44% of Filipinos believed that the quality of their life will improve.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) revised its growth forecast for 2022, according to the Philippine National News Agency.

From a previous projection of 6.5 in April, AMRO announced that it now sees a 6.9 percent growth. The 2023 projection, however, stays the same at 6.5 percent.

According to Hoe Ee Khor, chief economist at AMRO, a major factor in the expansion is the opening of the economy, as well as domestic consumption and investment. He added that AMRO expects the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector to continue to thrive as the Philippines is “basically a service economy.”

More: The Philippines’ office segment, led by IT-BPM sector

Philstar.com reported that a Barcelona-based think tank also revised its GDP growth forecast for the Philippines.

From 6.7 percent, FocusEconomics increased its growth forecast to 6.9 percent, making the Philippines the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia. “GDP is set to grow at the fastest pace in ASEAN this year. Support will come from reduced COVID-19 restrictions, expansionary fiscal and monetary stances, and the government’s Build Build Build infrastructure program. Key factors to watch include fiscal and external imbalances, and fiscal decentralization reforms,” the firm said.

It kept its economic growth prediction for 2023 at 6.1 percent.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].