Amid slower global demand and the potential negative impact of the prolonged dry spell due to El Niño on the economy, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cut its 2019 growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.4 percent.
However, ADB country director for the Philippines Kelly Bird pointed out during a press conference on Wednesday that even as the Manila-based multilateral lender’s updated gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for this year was lower than the previous forecast of 6.7 percent, it was higher than the actual economic expansion of 6.2 percent last year.
Across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), only the Philippines and Brunei were the two countries expected to post faster growth this year compared to 2018, the ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2019 report showed.
Bird said it helped that the Philippines was not export-intensive, unlike its Asean neighbors, making the country less vulnerable to a sharp slowdown in exports.
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The government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is also another shield from external shocks, Bird added.
Under Build, Build, Build, the government will roll out “game-changing” projects, with around half expected to be completed during President Duterte’s term, to usher in “the golden age of infrastructure” by 2022. The massive infrastructure spending in the medium term is expected to keep Philippine growth well above its neighboring countries, he said.
