ADB sees Philippines still outdoing comparable major Asian economies

THE PHILIPPINES will continue to outdo most of its Asia-Pacific counterparts this year and next as a strong infrastructure push adds to “robust domestic demand” that has long been a driver of economic growth, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report yesterday that showed the country bagging the biggest projection upgrades among economies tracked.

The Asian Development Outlook Supplement ( ADOS) showed a 6.8% revised projection for Philippine gross domestic prod- (GDP) growth this year — a revision first bared in a BusinessWorld forum last Nov. 24 — up 0.4 of a point from 6.4% under the ADO 2016 Update released last September that, in turn, was better than a 6.0% initial forecast under the March ADO.

The revision comes after the government last Nov. 17 reported a three- year- high 7.1% GDP expansion last quarter that bested most major Asian economies except India, which later on reported 7.3% growth for the same period. It was the second straight quarter that India beat the Philippines, which had otherwise outperformed even China.

The third quarter saw a rebound in agricultural output — which had previously reeled from five straight quarters of contraction due to drought brought by El Niño — as well as a pickup in construction and manufacturing that more than made up for the fading of any boost from spending related to the May 9 national elections.