THE Palace on Thursday welcomed data showing that the Philippines maintained its status as one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies in the fourth quarter of 2016.
“Our GDP has posted a 6.6 growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 driving the economy to grow by 6.8 percent for the entire year. The last quarter of an election year is usually weak with the government transition. However, in our case, it has actually improved,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
“This is higher than the 6.3 growth recorded during the fourth quarter of 2015 and the 6.6 growth in fourth quarter is a testament that our economy remains robust and is growing at a healthy and steady rate.”
“Overall, we believe that the target of 6.5 [to] 7.5 percent for 2017 is highly likely and that our strong economic performance is likely to be sustainable in the long run,” he said.
Gross domestic product, or the sum value of goods and services produced by the economy, grew 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter. This brought GDP growth for the full year to 6.8 percent, government data showed.
President Rodrigo Duterte seeks to grow the economy by 50 percent in real terms during his six years in office to lift six-million people from poverty and to bring the Philippines to upper middle income status, Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.
Pernia said investors usually adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude during the last quarter of an election year, when a new government assumes power.