PH GDP grows by 6.5%

FILE: Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning Ernesto Pernia (Photo By Philippine Information Agency, Public Domain)

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a statement, the Philippines is one of the fastest growing major economies in Asia, on Thursday.

The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or the total monetary value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period, one of the indicators of how ‘in-shape’ the country’s economy is, has increased to 6.5%.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA’s) secretary, the country has surpassed Vietnam’s 6.2% growth and Indonesia’s 5.0% growth rate. Currently, the Philippines is either second or third next to China’s 6.9% growth rate.

“Malaysia and Thailand have not yet released their data, but we can expect that they will be lower than the performance of the Philippines for this quarter,” Pernia said.

In addition, the secretary mentioned that this increase placed the country ‘on track’ to its goal, when NEDA set 6.5-7.5% full-year growth for 2017 on December. Maintaining and further increasing this rate will likewise maintain the Philippines’ stand as one of the fastest growing economies in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

For the demand side, household consumption remained at 5.9%, government consumption expanded by 7.1% from 0.1% in quarter one of 2017.

On the supply side, industry was at 7.3%, agriculture sector recovered and expanded by 6.3%. Pernia said that the services sector continued to be the main driver of growth at 6.1% though this was slower compared to the previous quarter’s 6.7% and last year’s 8.2%

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella said in another statement, “Indeed our growth momentum is on track and that we would sustain our pace for the rest of the year as we continue to lay down the foundation of a comfortable life for all through increased investments in infrastructure and social protection.”

The NEDA secretary said that they have outlined Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, containing ‘priority strategies for agriculture, industry, and service sectors’ backed up by programs, which will need the support of the business sector and civil society.

Pernia said that further increase is a cooperative effort, “We really need everyone and every sector to move in sync towards our goal of inclusive, a high trust and resilient society and a globally competitive knowledge economy.”