Philippine 2017 Growth Within Target

The Philippine economy is widely expected to grow within target for the full-year 2017, given the higher infrastructure spending in the fourth quarter, First Metro Investments Corp. and the University of Asia and the Pacific said in a report released Monday, GMAnetwork reported. “2017 ended with a bang! With infrastructure spending soaring by 45% in November and exports still on the rise, our GDP growth forecast of 6.5 to 7% for the full year 2017 appears to be a no-brainer,” FMIC and UA&P said in the January 2018 issue of “The Market Call.” The inter-agency development Budget coordination committee targets the gross domestic product to grow by 6.5- to 7% in 2017, and 7- to 8% in 2018 to 2022. The department of budget and management reported earlier this month a 44.8% growth in infrastructure spending last November, driven by the “Build, Build, Build” program. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, exports reached $4.96 billion in November 2017, up 1.6% higher a year earlier. The Philippine economy grew by 6.4% in the first quarter, 6.7% in the second and 7% in the third quarter.