Pernia: PH prospects still rosy

The country’s economic outlook remains rosy, backed by its strong macro-economic fundamentals, the country’s socio-economic planning secretary assured.

“The Philippines is expected to remain one of the fastest growing economies in Asia,” said Ernesto Pernia, who is also National Economic and Development Authority director general, at the Philippine Economic Briefing held at the Marco Polo Plaza yesterday.

The country’s economy is expected to grow 6.7 percent this year and 6.8 percent in 2019, next to India’s forecast of 7.4 percent and 7.8 percent for 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Drivers of growth include recovery of global trade, manufacturing resurgence, infrastructure development, good prospects for business process management and tourism, manageable inflation, strong consumer confidence, reduction in cost of doing business, and improvements in agriculture.

Pernia, however, said they are also aware of the risks such as the trade war between China and the Philippines, geopolitical tensions and China’s financial sector risks and excessive credit growth.