PHL GDP growth at above 6% until 2016 — ICAEW report

MANILA — The Philippine economy will remain as the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia until 2016, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ (ICAEW) fourth quarter 2014 Economic Insight showed.

The latest ICAEW’s report has compared six largest economies in ASEAN including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr), the producer of the Economic Insight and ICAEW’s partner for global economic forecasting, sees gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the Philippines at 6.6 percent.

This year’s GDP growth of the country is higher than the projected growth for Indonesia at 5.0 percent; Malaysia at 5.2 percent; Singapore at 3.1 percent; Thailand at 1.9 percent; and Vietnam at 5.1 percent.

This economic trend for the Philippines is seen to continue in 2015 with growth rate at 6.4 percent and in 2016 at 6.1 percent.

The report noted that the small budget deficit under the Aquino administration and the fast economic growth of the country has allowed the government to increase spending particularly in infrastructure.

“The Philippines has kept budget deficits relatively small under President Benigno Aquino, allowing some room for maneuver. Fast growth, forecast at 6.6 percent for 2014, allows progress on improving the country’s underdeveloped infrastructure,” ICAEW’s report mentioned.

The country’s economic growth for the next five years, however, is to be declining but remains one of the strongest growth among the six ASEAN economies.

The report also showed that the Philippines’ GDP growth from 2014 to 2019 is higher than the growth of the whole ASEAN region.