The World Bank on Thursday upgraded its 2016 growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.8 percent from the previous estimate of 6.4 percent.
The Washington-based multilateral lender said it revised upward its projections for the Philippines as a part of its quarterly forecast exercise “considering recent trends.”
The Philippine economy expanded 7.1 percent in the third quarter, faster than the median expectations of 6.6 percent to 6.9 percent, bringing the average growth in the three quarters to 7 percent.
“Recent economic trends illustrate the high confidence among investors and consumers, and provide the foundation for a more optimistic outlook for the remainder of 2016 and for 2017,” said World Bank lead economist for the Philippines Birgit Hansl.
“The economy’s strong performance in October and November, and continued policy commitment to an increase in public infrastructure spending are expected to carry the economy’s growth momentum over to 2017-2018,” he said.
The World Bank also revised upwards its 2017 growth projection for the Philippine economy to 6.9 percent from its October estimate of 6.2 percent. In 2018, the economy is expected to expand 7 percent.
The bank said the growth in capital investment would remain the Philippine economy’s primary growth engine.