Phl economy grows faster in Q1

The Philippine economy may have grown stronger in the first three months of the year on the back of sustained robust domestic demand and external trade recovery, an economist said.

In a recent interview, Euben Paracuelles, senior economist at for Southeast Asia at Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., said that monthly indicators for the first quarter have so far suggested that the economy have grown faster than in the fourth quarter last year.

Paracuelles cited the sustained robust domestic demand supporting the growth and the recovery of the exports sector.

The first two months of 2017 saw Philippine exports growing 22.5 percent and 11 percent in January and February, respectively, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Exports growth averaged 17.4 percent in the first two months, recovering from a 4.2 percent drop in the same period last year.

The Nomura economist said the exports sector and domestic demand have started to become more "synchronized", signaling a robust growth.

Likewise, imports also averaged 15.8 percent in the two-month period, up from 5.8 percent growth last year.

“The performance of trade in the first two months of the year is a good indication that we are on an upward trajectory. With ASEAN chairmanship and China’s rebalancing to a more consumer-oriented growth, the Philippines is expected to have expansions in terms of products and markets,” Economic Planning Chief Ernesto Pernia earlier said.

The government is set to report the country's first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth data on May 18.

The country grew 6.6 percent fourth quarter last year and posted a 6.9 percent GDP growth in 2016.

PROJECTION

In its latest projection, Nomura expects Philippines gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.3 percent this year, slightly slower than the actual revised 6.9 percent economic expansion last year.

But this is still deemed faster than the expected growth of its Asian neighbors.

The government targets GDP growth for 2017 to be within the 6.5-7.5 percent range, following the strong growth last year, which was among Asia's fastest.

Paracuelles had said that as the government's infrastructure drive and structural reforms make progress, they should remain very supportive to the overall economic outlook of the Philippines.