...the PH growth forecast 2013 (World Bank)

World Bank raises PH growth forecast, lowers most of Asia

 

 

 

ANC
07 October 2013


The World Bank on Monday raised its Philippine growth forecast, making the country a standout as the bank cuts its projections for most of the rest of Asia.

The World Bank predicted a 7% growth for the country this year form an original forecast of 6.2%.

According to the World Bank, increased infrastructure spending would add to the boost provided by consumer spending, remittances and business process outsourcing.

The Philippine economy grew 7.6% in the first half of the year, well above the 7% World Bank projection.

In a phone interview with ANC's News Now @ 3PM, Jun Neri, an economist from Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said the country remains a standout in the region because unlike countries reliant on exports, our economic growth is not dependent on the performance of the biggest economies.

"It's not dependent on how the biggest economies in the world perform in the next quarters. Our own engine is pushing us forward," Neri said.

The rest of Asia are projected to have slower than expected growth as the United States slowed down its economic stimulus.

Earlier, the US government began a shutdown as Congress failed to agree on a new budget.

Last week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also raised its growth forecast for the Philippines while cutting its projections for most other Asian economies.

Like the ADB, the World Bank also noted that job creation remains the biggest challenge in the Philippines.

Investors cheered the World Bank's upgraded economic growth for the country as a total 1,390,903,228 shares traded hands on Monday.

Philippine shares closed up 0.83% or 52.73 points to 6,443.21.