Philippine Economic Issues

The basic economic issues in the Philippines for the long time are, poverty, corruption and lack
of education. Poverty, many Filipinos think that the cause of poverty is the lack of education
which is true. For example, the parents from a poor family and who doesn’t have an education
tend to have more babies than those who are in the middle class because they don’t have any
knowledge of Family planning. While the rich people as you notice here in Philippines they only
had one or two babies they can focus for their son/daughter’s future. The poor become poorer.
The rich become richer.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-economic-issues-in-Philippines
Think-tank Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) has cut its 2017 and 2018 growth
forecasts for the Philippines partly on the back of slower investment and consumption in the first
half even as it flagged risks related to the government’s delivery of its ambitious infrastructure
plan.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund kept its 2017 growth forecast of 6.6 percent for the
Philippines, with the country poised to grow the fastest in Asean-5.
“The Philippine economy is expected to grow by 6.6 percent this year before quickening to 6.8
percent in 2018 as public sector infrastructure spending gains pace while domestic consumption
and exports remain buoyant. To support the infrastructure program and enhance growth
potential, mobilizing sufficient revenue via tax reforms is essential,”
http://business.inquirer.net/238392/growth-forecast-ph-lowered#ixzz4zPe87mER
World Bank sees remittance flows to the Philippines hitting nearly $33 billion this year amid
global economic recovery.
“Remittances to the Philippines continue to remain resilient despite the political uncertainties in
the Middle East, and are expected to grow by 5.3 percent in 2017, slightly higher than the
estimated 4.5-percent increase in 2016,” the Washington-based multilateral lender said in its
Migration and Development Brief report released on Oct. 3. The Philippines was poised to be the
third-biggest remittance-receiving country this year with $32.8 billion, after India’s $65.4 billion
and China’s $62.9 billion, the World Bank’s latest estimates showed. Worldwide, “remittances to
low- and middle-income countries are on course to recover in 2017 after two consecutive years
of decline,” the World Bank said in a statement.
“Officially recorded remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by 4.8 percent to
$450 billion for 2017. Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are
projected to grow by 3.9 percent to $596 billion,” the World Bank added. According to the
World Bank, “the recovery in remittance flows is driven by relatively stronger growth in the
European Union, Russian Federation, and the United States.” However, remittances to East and
South Asia may be dampened by “fiscal tightening, due to low oil prices, and policies
discouraging recruitment of foreign workers” in oil-producing Gulf Cooperation Council
countries, according to the World Bank.
Steady demand for overseas Filipino workers sustained cash remittances to grow 5 percent year-
on-year to $16.1 billion as of End-July, the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showed.
Cash remittances were projected by the BSP to hit a record $28 billion by yearend.
The BSP had kept the 4-percent remittances growth target for 2017, although the value of the
updated projection was higher than the earlier forecast of $27.7 billion.
Last year, cash sent home by overseas Filipinos through banks reached a record-high $26.9
billion, 5-percent higher than 2015’s $25.6 billion. Remittances are the country’s largest source
of foreign exchange income, insulating the domestic economy from external shocks by ensuring
the steady supply of dollars into the system. Also, these cash transfers are a major driver for
domestic consumption, hence contributing to strong economic growth.
http://business.inquirer.net/237974/world-bank-sees-ph-remittances-hitting-33-billion-2017-
remittance-dollars-peso-world-bank#ixzz4zPfJpEiP

A number of developments during the last 100 days either have begun to cause grave damage to
the Philippine economy or threaten to do so.
Government agencies and diehard defenders of the new administration can say whatever they
wish on the issue of international confidence in and respect for the Philippines, but inflows of
investment, capital, trade and assistance are not enhanced by shows of animosity and disrespect
towards international institutions, foreign governments and foreign leaders. It is a mistake to
attribute the emerging signs of international backlash—especially the decline of the Phisix
(Philippine Stock Exchange index) and the depreciation of the peso—to international market
trends solely. Foreign governments and private investors are highly sensitive to bad governance,
administrative irresponsibility and erratic behavior on the part of national leaders.
There is no such thing as an unnecessary or dispensable industry in today’s Philippine economy,
where unemployment and underemployment rates remain at naggingly high levels. Certainly not
the mining industry, which produces a number of key minerals—including gold, copper, nickel
and chromite—and some of whose components have been operating for close to a century.
Considering that today’s Philippine economy needs all the jobs that it can get its hands on, the
object of government policy should be the raising of the operating standards—especially the
waste disposal practices—of the mining companies, not their suspension or closure. There are
two classes of mining operations in this country: responsible mining and irresponsible mining.
The authorities should go hammer-and-tongs against the irresponsible mining companies but
give all-out support to the responsible ones.
“Regular” employment, with all the attendant social-security and other benefits, is undoubtedly
something much to be desired for all employees in this country. But, given that not all—probably
the majority of—entrepreneurs can provide such benefits and remain competitive, the choice for
such entrepreneurs boils down to (1) not renewing the contracts, at “endo” time, of contractual
employees whose renumeration they can no longer afford or (2) violate the new prohibition
against the “endo” practice, knowing that DoLE (Department of Labor and Employment) lacks
the capability to effectively enforce the prohibition. Would non-renewal of “endo” contracts be
good for the economy? Would the non-regular choose non-renewal over continued receipt of
income?
In going after businesses like SM and the 7-11 convenience-store chain DoLE clearly is going
after the low-lying fruit. But how about the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that are not so
visible and are limited in their capacity to provide employment of any kind? These latter
establishments precisely are the ones that the Minimum Wage Act amendment sought to keep
alive. Must the high-lying fruit be forced to violate the new DoLE rule?
A hardened Filipino politician of times past is recorded as having uttered the dictum “Politics is
addition.” In a paraphrase applicable to today’s highly politicized environment, economic
development is addition. Being still a middle-income Third World economy, the Philippines is in
no position to reject any unconditionally proferred foreign aid. The Philippine economy needs all
the resources—the dollars, the euros, the yuans and the deutschemarks—that come its way. It
cannot adopt a “We don’t need your aid” posture. Every bit of aid counts. Certainly, the Filipinos
who comprise the 26.7 percent comprising this country’s poor don’t want Malacañang or
Congress to tell aid donors to stop giving the Philippines economic assistance.
This country should not strive to be independent. It already is independent: didn’t the Senate vote
in 1991 to not renew the Military Bases Agreement and thereby close down the US military
bases in this country? What this country should strive, in its policymaking, is real, not phony,
independence—the kind of independence that the likes of South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan to
the position of international respect and economic prestige that they enjoy today. In getting to
where they are those countries’ leaders—the Chiang family, the South Korean generals and Lee
Kuan Yew—treated international institutions and foreign leaders with civility and maturity, not
insolence and bluster. To keep its vulnerable economic development process going, the
Philippines needs to pursue an independent foreign policy that seeks to make new friendships
without straining or ending tried-and-tested ones.
http://thestandard.com.ph/opinion/columns/business-class-by-rudy-romero/218058/major-issues-
facing-philippine-economy.html
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) — Increased government spending contributed to
the 6.5-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the economy for the second quarter of
2017, economic officials said Thursday.
The 6.5-percent growth in the second quarter ending June is up slightly from 6.4-percent growth
posted in the first quarter ending March. However, this is down from the 7.1 percent registered in
the same period a year ago.
"Taking the last quarter's GDP growth, where the government's spending performance was
lackluster but where the private sector stepped up, and then this quarter's GDP growth, where
government really stepped up but where private sector slackened, just think what could happen if
both government and private sectors together exerted that extra effort," said Socioeconomic
Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia in a press briefing.
The second quarter GDP of 6.5 percent is on the lower range of the 6.5 to 7.5 percent target for
2017.
GDP represents the total value of all the goods and services produced in the Philippines within a
certain period. It serves as a gauge of an economy's health.
Analysts said the 6.5 percent GDP was slightly better than what they expected.
April Lee Tan, research head for online stockbroker group COL Financial, told CNN Philippines
that the figures are slightly better than what people were expecting.
"Most notable for me was the pick-up in government spending," said April Lee Tan, research
head of online stockbroker group COL Financial. "People aren't disappointed," she said.
Although household consumption remained steady at 5.9 percent, government consumption
leaped from 0.1 percent in the first quarter to 7.1 percent in the second quarter, said Pernia.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in an August 8 Senate hearing that government
underspending, where the government does not spend its budget within the allotted time, has
been a "major flaw" in the Philippines since 2014.
http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2017/08/17/philippine-economy-grow-6.5-percent-second-
quarter.html
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 1) — British banking giant Standard Chartered
expects the gross domestic product (GDP) - the broadest measure of the economy - to grow just
6.5% in 2017, officials said in a briefing on Tuesday. This is a downward revision from the 6.8%
it set at the start of the year.
In a separate report, Metrobank pegged its growth forecast at 6.6%.
Both banks' estimates are significantly lower than the 6.9% registered in 2016. They also sit in
the middle of the government's target for this year of 6-7%.
Standard Chartered's regional head for economic research Edward Lee said the bank had to trim
its growth projections after the first quarter results came out at just 6.4%, dragged down by poor
government spending.
Metrobank noted, however, "While the first quarter growth was lower than market expectations,
it still showed that the economy is on solid footing as growth still came in above the 6% level."
A pick-up in government spending, steady overseas remittances, recovery in the agriculture
sector and the continued strength of the services industry should continue to support the GDP for
the rest of the year, it said.
However, the twist is that the infrastructure building spree driving the economy is one of the
culprits bringing down the local currency.
As the country imports heavy equipment and construction materials this year, it is buying up
more and more dollars to foot the bill. The peso has since sunk to an 11-year low of ₱50.94: $1
in July.
"More infra project roll-outs would mean greater demand for the US dollar on even higher
imports… which in turn could mean the peso going beyond the ₱51: $1 level," Metrobank said.
Standard Chartered likewise saw the peso finishing the year at the ₱51: $1 band.
Lee pointed out, however, that while capital importation is putting pressure on the currency, for
now, the trade-off is much more important: improved productivity in the economy in the long
run.
"This is a short-term phenomenon as the country moves to a higher investment phase," he said.
Both Metrobank and Standard Chartered expect inflation to hit 3.1% this year. It's much higher
than the 1.8% in 2016, but it falls well within the central bank target of 2-4%.
While the weak peso and fuel price hikes bring inflationary pressures, analysts said the rebound
of the agriculture sector can offset this by bringing down food prices.
http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2017/08/01/philippine-economy-seen-to-slow-down-in-
2017.html
“JACKFRUIT is really good because you can make proper money from it,” confides Dominador
Villasis, an elderly farmer whose fields lie near the town of Inopacan on the island of Leyte.
Nineteen years since he planted his first tree, money from the fruit, which tastes faintly of
pineapple with wafts of banana, has allowed him to swap a bicycle for a motorbike and to care
for his extended family. Jackfruit trees can be planted alongside coconut palms, the main local
crop, and a hectare of them can bring in $12,000 a year, says Joe Bacusmo of Visayas State
University.
Leyte lies among the islands of the Eastern Visayas, one of the most deprived parts of the
Philippines. About 30% of the people in the region are poor, according to the government; in the
country as a whole the share is around 17%. This represents progress of a sort. Over the past
three decades extreme poverty has more than halved in the Philippines by the World Bank’s
measure. But several nearby countries, such as Vietnam, China and Thailand, have managed
almost to eradicate the scourge in a far shorter time
One problem is low growth: between 1980 and 2005 the average annual increase in GDP was
just 0.63%, a pathetic pace by regional standards. More recently a leap in remittances from the
millions of Filipinos who work abroad and a boom in the outsourcing of back-office work to the
country by Western firms have boosted growth. Forecasts suggest that GDP will expand by over
6% this year, as it did last year.
But the growth is concentrated in Manila and the two neighbouring provinces, which generate
around 60% of the country’s output. Not only do people in the farthest-flung parts of the
archipelago not share in the prosperity, they also do not have the money to move to Manila or the
education to land a job if they get there. In particular, many in the provinces do not speak
Tagalog, the national language, let alone English, which employers prize (the country has eight
main languages and dozens of local dialects).
Jobs in rural areas are scarce. Around a third of Filipinos survive through farming or fishing,
industries in which productivity has lagged badly. Unfair systems of land ownership left over
from colonial times are largely to blame. Powerful families have kept huge estates through their
political influence; the family of former presidents Corazon and Benigno Aquino is a case in
point. Feeble land reform began in the late 1980s and is still under way (reforms in Taiwan,
South Korea and Vietnam were far faster and more resolute). It has created prolonged
uncertainty over the status of land, discouraging investment. Much-needed irrigation systems are
not widespread, for example.
Poor parts of the Philippines tend to have higher birth rates, as in most countries. The average
woman in Leyte will have 3.5 children during her lifetime. Her counterpart in Manila will have
just 2.3. Contraceptive use has risen dramatically since the 1970s, but a fifth of poor married
women still say they have an unmet need for family planning.
The government of President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged to help poorer Filipinos with all these
problems. Mr Duterte recently signed an executive order to speed implementation of a law
passed five years ago to make contraception more easily available to the poor, despite
determined opposition from the Catholic church. In the past week the country’s Food and Drug
Administration was finally able to lift a two-year-old judicial ban on 51 female hormonal
contraceptives, having convinced the courts that they would not induce abortions, which are
mostly illegal.
Mr Duterte’s government, in a comfortable position fiscally, is also spending more. His first
budget laid out 3.4trn pesos ($68bn) of spending—an increase of 12% on 2016. Infrastructure is
an important focus. New airports, roads and bridges will appear thanks to a planned increase in
expenditure on such projects from 5.2% of GDP last year to 7.4% of GDP in 2022. These public
works are critical to boosting the fortunes of the poorer bits of the country, by connecting them
better to Manila.
Both the government and foreign aid agencies are beginning to focus on food processing. That is
a good way to increase farm incomes quickly, says Richard Bolt of the Asian Development
Bank. Around Inopacan, local authorities are investing in frying equipment for both jackfruit and
bananas, in the hope of nurturing a fruity-snack industry. Packets of crunchy fried jackfruit are
much more easily transported than the fresh sort (which can weigh as much as 50kg). Salustiano
Piamonte, a farmer, says selling his fresh jackfruit in the local market can earn 35 pesos a
kilogram, whereas selling it to the processors brings in only 16 pesos a kilogram. “But at least
the price is guaranteed,” he says. And the fruit gets collected from him despite the muddy,
unpaved road that leads to his farm.
In addition to jackfruit-planting, pig-fattening and tilapia-farming schemes are under way in
Leyte. All this adds to the impression that Mr Duterte cares more about remote areas than his
Manila-focused predecessors did. The president’s campaign against drugs, which has claimed
more than 12,000 lives through extra-judicial killings, elicits enthusiasm too. “If Duterte hadn’t
been elected, everyone in the Philippines would be an addict,” reckons Silvestre Lumarda, the
mayor of Inopacan. He says shabu—a form of methamphetamine—is no longer a problem
locally and that crime has dropped. Eleven localities in the Eastern Visayas have been declared
free of illegal drugs since Mr Duterte took office in June of last year.
Mr Duterte got his start in provincial politics. For decades he was mayor of Davao, the biggest
city on the southern island of Mindanao. The popular perception of him as an outsider willing to
fight against the elites of Manila has some grounding in reality. At any rate, his government’s
poverty-fighting efforts seem more vigorous than the Filipino norm. He is also a local boy made
good: Mr Duterte was born 72 years ago in the town of Maasin in southern Leyte.
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21731638-government-rodrigo-duterte-paying-poor-some-
attention-philippines-has-most?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227
NEARLY as striking as Asia’s dynamism is how unevenly prosperity is spread—in contrast to
Africa, Latin America or Europe. First-world Japan (with a GDP per person of $38,900) is in
effect part of the same island chain as the Philippines ($2,950). Rich Singapore ($53,000) is little
more than an hour’s flight from Myanmar ($1,275). On the Korean peninsula, the division is
even starker. Two economies that started out in identical circumstances have diverged so wildly
that South Koreans are between 3cm and 8cm taller than their North Korean counterparts on
average, depending on their age, thanks to better nutrition.
A voluminous literature ponders the causes of the East Asian miracle, in which first Japan, then
the four original “Asian tigers”—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan—and then
China sustained bounding growth for decades. Most studies point to market-friendly policies that
encouraged exports of manufactures and the rapid accumulation of capital, including the human
sort. Others emphasise the importance of institutions. Yet one crucial factor has been relatively
underplayed: restructuring agriculture.
“Land reform” sounds innocuous but involves great upheaval: seizing land from those who have
it and giving it to those who do not. Yet radical action may be necessary in countries with big,
impoverished, rural populations. As Joe Studwell points out in “How Asia Works”, farm yields
often stagnate in such places. As populations grow, making land scarce, landlords jack up rents
and lend at extortionate rates. That leaves poor tenant farmers mired in debt, with no means to
invest.
China provides a stark example. By the 1920s, a tenth of the population owned over seven-tenths
of the arable land. Three-quarters of farming families had less than a hectare. Mao Zedong’s
Communists reallocated land in every new territory they seized. After the defeat of the
Kuomintang (KMT) in 1949, they rolled out land reform nationwide. Landlords, some with
scarcely more land than most, were blamed for everything. In the decade after 1945 millions of
them were beaten to death or shot, or left to starve. Revolution, Mao said, was not a dinner party.
The effect was immediate. Grain output leapt by perhaps 70% in the decade after the war. When
farmers can capture most of the value of their land, they have a powerful incentive to produce.
And while smallholder agriculture is hugely labour-intensive, that makes sense when labour is
abundant. (Only a few years later the Communists embarked on the madness of collectivisation.
China emerged from that disaster in 1978, after Mao died. North Korea is starting to do so only
now.)
China’s early success challenged Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. These countries, pressed by
America to carry out land reform, showed that it does not require mass murder. By the war, half
of Japan’s arable land was worked by tenant farmers, and rent was never less than half the crop.
After the war, farm size was limited to three hectares. Land committees on which tenants
outnumbered landlords oversaw a reapportionment that took land from 2m households and gave
it to 4m others. Compensation fell short (and was gobbled up by inflation), but there was little
violence among farmers. Perhaps it helped to be able to blame the occupiers when politely taking
over someone’s paddy field. At any rate, agriculture boomed.
South Korea had the most unequal land ownership in the region, and resistance by the elites was
strongest. Some landlords lost as much as 90% of their land. But Taiwan under the KMT shows
the clearest benefits from land reform, which started with rent controls and reforms to tenancy.
Sales of formerly Japanese-owned land followed. Then, in 1953, came appropriation. The share
of land tilled by the owner rose from just over 30% in 1945 to 64% in 1960. Yields on sugar and
rice leapt. New markets sprang up for exotic fruits and vegetables. Household farmers dominated
early exports. Crucially, income inequality shrank thanks to the new farmer-capitalists. Less
spent on imports of food, more money in Taiwanese pockets, a new entrepreneurialism: farming
was the start of Taiwan’s economic miracle.
Cheap at half the price
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand could have followed Taiwan’s example, but didn’t. Their
economies have done far worse. With between 25% (Malaysia) and 48% (Thailand) of their
populations still living in the countryside, land distribution matters. The state favours
agribusiness and plantations over small farmers. There is a yawning gap in income between
countryside and city.

The situation is worse in the Philippines, which had a similar income per person to Taiwan’s just
after the war. Before independence in 1946, America auctioned off the Catholic church’s huge
estates. Only the local elites could afford them. These became the hacienda class that thrives
today, forming the basis of many political dynasties. Admittedly, after the People Power
revolution (led by Cory Aquino, from one landed family, who married into another), political
pressure for land redistribution culminated in a reform law passed in 1988. Nearly 30 years on
the law, replete with loopholes, is still being implemented. The operations of many big estates
have hardly been affected, while household farmers still lack technical and financial support.
Many of those given plots have had to lease them back cheaply to the big planters, becoming
wage labourers on their own land.
There are political consequences too. In South Korea and Taiwan inclusive agricultural growth
prefigured the inclusive politics of today’s thriving democracies. In South-East Asia, by contrast,
cronyism and inertia are consequences of an economy that is unfair to those at the bottom. The
Philippines and Thailand have most clearly paid a price, in the form of insurgencies and rural
unrest, for keeping poor people down. When weighed against the costs, land reform, done well,
starts to look cheap.
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21730184-countries-did-it-properly-have-grown-fastest-
asia-path-prosperity-starts-land?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227
(CNN Philippines) — Filipinos are more concerned with economic issues compared to national
security and socio-political affairs, according to a recent survey by Pulse Asia.
In a statement released on Tuesday (March 24), the pollster noted that the leading urgent
concerns among Filipinos are inflation control (46%), the increase of workers' pay (44%), and
the fight against government corruption (40%).
Rounding up the upper half are poverty reduction (37%), job creation (34%), and the fight
against crime (22%).
Related: Income increases but so does poverty
On the other hand, Filipinos are least concerned with national territorial integrity (5%), terrorism
(5%), and charter change (4%).
The results are not much different when grouped according to the country's three major island
chains. Mindanaoans (52%) are most concerned with the increasing cost of goods and services.
A majority of Visayans (53%) and residents of Luzon (48%) — exluding Metro Manila — cite
low worker's pay as their top issue.
Those from Metro Manila (49%) rank government corruption as their most pressing issue.
Inflation is the top concern of all social classes.
Read: Exclusive growth in the Philippines
In the same survey, Pulse Asia found that the Aquino administration's highest approval ratings
were in calamity response (49%), environmental protection (48%), and in defending Philippine
territorial integrity (43%).
In all issues raised by Pulse Asia among its respondents, the pollster notes that "The Aquino
administration fails to score a majority approval rating..."
The administration's lowest ratings were in economic issues — the very topics that Filipinos are
most concerned about. Only about three out of 10 Filipinos approve its performance improving
workers' pay (33%), poverty reduction (28%). and inflation control (29%).
On a similar note, the latest figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that about one
in four FIlipinos (25.8%) lived in poverty during the first half of 2014. However, the same
agency notes that the country's unemployment fell to 6.6% in January 2015 from, 7.5% the
previous year.
"Public assessment of the national administration’s performance remains largely unchanged
between November 2014 and March 2015," Pulse Asia said.
http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2015/03/26/filipinos-top-concern-economic-issues.html
The Philippines faces many problems. Some are critical, like the Marawi rebellion; others are
merely annoying, like the fact that when school starts, so does the rainy season. However,
overall, the Philippines does not have economic problems despite Filipinos being told constantly
that we do.
The academics and other experts sit around a massive table in a wood-paneled boardroom,
wearing Western-style suits, which cost could feed a rural Filipino family for a year, and talk, for
example, about “inclusive growth”. One problem is that, while they wear their sober faces, they
cannot even measure “inclusive growth”, the “equitable opportunities for economic participants
during economic growth with benefits incurred by every section of society”. It is a “concept”
that’s unlike any sort of a data-defined model.
The negative bias is glaring and never ending. The headline about a new World Bank study
reads, “Filipinos are working hard but remain poor”. But for us, the most interesting part was this
statement: “This new report shows that, contrary to some (actually should be all) perceptions,
economic growth in the last 10 years has created enough jobs to absorb the growing labor force.
Still, many workers remain underemployed,” World Bank
Country Director Mara Warwick said.
And, of course, why isn’t the local stock market at its historic high like in the US?
But let’s talk about the stock market. As recently pointed out, the net profit growth for all
Philippine Stock Exchange-listed issues grew by 17.8 percent in 2016 over the previous year. By
contrast, the 30 listed issues of the Dow Jones Industrial Index posted a 0.00-percent growth.
An expert questioned how this was possible since total revenue growth was only 6.6 percent
higher. This is not a person that you want running your business if you are a for-profit company.
Profits that grow faster than revenues show higher efficiency and profit margins. Most business
people—unlike the deep thinkers—would consider that a success.
Further, a major potential net profit-killer is debt service. So, if a business grew profits faster
than revenues, there is a strong likelihood one important reason is that the company spent less on
paying offer debts than it did in the previous years probably due to having less debt, another sign
of business success.
Here is the economic reality. All sectors of the Philippine economy—government, corporate and
particularly consumer—are arguably some of lowest in the world. A cash-based economy,
particularly on the consumer side, may grow more slowly but that growth will be more
sustainable and robust.
When you hear negative comments about the Philippine economy, please remember: There is
more to the story than the headlines.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/philippine-economic-reality/
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines pulled ahead of China in the 3rd quarter of 2017 as the
Southeast Asian economy reported growth of 6.9%, slightly faster than the Asian superpower's
6.8%. (READ: Philippine GDP grows faster than expected by 6.9% in Q3 2017)
The last time the Philippines pulled this off was in the 3rd quarter of 2016, when the Philippines
expanded 7% and China 6.7%.
China's economy has been growing at breakneck rates in the past decades, pushing it to become
the world's 2nd largest economy. But under President Xi Jinping, China is bent on prioritizing
the quality of development rather than fast economic expansion. (READ: China's economic
growth slows in Q3 but on course to beat target)
On the other hand, the Philippines, once the "Sick Man of Asia," has been carrying out a series
of reforms that have given it momentum to grow at a rapid pace, allowing it to stand out at a time
when there was global economic gloom.
Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) has been growing more than 6% for 9 consecutive
quarters.
'Fastest growing economy'
In the past quarters, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and India have been in the running for the
title, "fastest growing economy in the world."
Among the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam
has been a strong contender. It has been outpacing the Philippines as the best performing
economy in the ASEAN regional bloc since the 4th quarter of 2016.
Among the pioneering 5 members of ASEAN, however, the Philippines remains the best
performing. ASEAN-5 is composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and
Thailand.
The Philippines' 6.9% growth in the 3rd quarter was 2nd to that of Vietnam's 7.46%, but faster
than Indonesia's 5.06% and Singapore's 4.6%.
Malaysia and Thailand have yet to release their official figures, but estimates put it at 5.1% and
3.3%, respectively.
On track
According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, the Philippine economy in the
3rd quarter was boosted mainly by sustained growth in exports, improvement in public spending,
as well as high spending on personal services and increase in salaries of government personnel.
Pernia added that the country is still on track to achieving its goal of 6.5% to 7.5% for full-year
2017.
This comes despite several slashes to GDP growth forecasts in 2017 by the World
Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and rating agency Moody's in previous months.
"Many were only expecting 6.5% to 6.6%," Pernia said. Median projections of Bloomberg and
Reuters polls saw 6.5% GDP growth in the 3rd quarter of the year.
The Duterte administration aims to reach 7% to 8% growth annually over the next 6 years, with
an P8.4-trillion infrastructure plan until 2022 and a tax reform proposal pending at the Senate. –
Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/business/188615-gross-domestic-product-philippines-q3-2017-
economic-growth-asean-china