Manila: The palace welcomed Standard & Poor’s forecast of 6.9 per cent gross domestic product growth for this year, as it said that the country is set to become one of the leading economies in the region.
“If you compared the economy to a pie, we are very pleased that international media, and also ourselves, recognise that the pie has grown,” Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing at the palace on Wednesday.
Credit rating agency S&P recently upgraded the Philippines to “investment grade” — meaning that the government has the capability to meets its financial obligations with creditors.
In a fresh report released Monday, S&P said that the country has taken over the growth leadership role from Indonesia among the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) member countries.
S&P forecast that the Philippine economy is expected to grow by 6.9 per cent this year, faster than other Asean economies.
Positive outlook
S&P sees Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growing at 6.1 per cent; Vietnam, 5.3 per cent; and Malaysia, 5.3 per cent. The GDP is the amount of final goods and services produced in a country.
Earlier, another credit watch agency, Fitch Rating, upgraded its rating for the Philippines.
The positive economic outlook is prevalent for most of Southeast Asia. “The major Asean economies we cover continue to outperform. These economies are more domestically focused than the newly-industrialised economies and therefore tend to do better when global growth is sluggish,” S&P said.
Militant groups have earlier criticised the Philippine government for harping on credit rating upgrades as part of its accomplishments while majority of Filipinos in reality are mired in poverty.
