Moody’s Analytics, the data analysis and financial intelligence arm of the sovereign credit watcher Moody’s Investors Service, forecasts a moderate expansion of the economy in the second quarter to 6 percent after having grown by 6.4 percent in the first three months.
The forecast is the latest in a chorus saying the Philippine growth story were to slow down amid elevated but easing inflation and a tight labor front.
“We expect Philippine GDP to grow 6 percent year-on-year, slowing from the 6.4 percent pace in the first quarter,” the Moody’s subsidiary said on Monday ahead of the outcome of government’s assessment of the $404 billion southeast Asian economy for release on Thursday.
Various analysts have noted the Philippines persisted on the growth path the past two years without fail no matter such headwinds as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and supply disruptions on the global front and expensive commodities prices and high interest rates within the country’s borders.
Analysts at First Metro Investment Inc. (FMIC), for instance, also forecasts slower growth for the Philippines in the second quarter averaging only 5.6 percent from 6.4 percent although the investment and data analysis arm of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. Group project sustained growth averaging 6.5 percent for next year.
The International Monetary Fund based in Washington DC had said the ASEAN 5, which includes the Philippines, were to grow at the forecast rate of 4.6 percent this year as the global economy, which grew by 3.5 percent last year were to slow to only 3 percent this time around.
The Philippines expanded by 7.6 percent in terms of the gross domestic product last year, the fastest rate of expansion in 46 years as the government committed to spend up to six percent of its annual budget for infrastructure as a long-haul measure ensuring continued expansion down the line.
The government under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has budgeted an aggregate P8.3 trillion just for infrastructure during his term to ensure growth is sustained even as he seeks to spend another P5.7 trillion in the proposed 2024 government budget.
