Philippine economy to grow 6.5% or higher in Q4 —FMIC, UA&P

The Philippine economy is expected to continue growing in the fourth quarter of the year, boosted by consumer and infrastructure spending, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said Thursday.

In the November edition of “The Market Call,” FMIC and UA&P expect the gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by at least 6.5% in the fourth quarter.

“The Philippine economy has returned to the fast lane with the 6.2% GDP growth in Q3, and we expect this to accelerate to 6.5% and above by Q4, as consumer, government, and investment spending get into higher gear moving forward,” the report read.

The 6.2% GDP growth in the third quarter followed a slowdown in the first two quarters of 2019.

“Low inflation, huge job gains, and low interest rates will drive more robust consumer spending, while National Government continues to ramp up infrastructure spending, and private sector propels PPP and capital goods investments,” FMIC and UA&P said.

PPP is the government’s public-private partnership program to engage the private sector in financing infrastructure projects.

Inflation settled at 1.3% in November, an uptick after five consecutive months of deceleration, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported earlier on Thursday.

Recent data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that public spending on infrastructure grew by 53.9% to P100.3 billion in September. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News