The International Monetary Fund downgraded the 2019 economic growth forecast for the Philippines amid the weak external demand and the delayed implementation of the new government budget.
“We have just updated our growth forecasts for the Philippines. GDP growth is now projected at 6 percent for 2019 from 6.5 percent,” IMF country representative Yongzheng Yang said in an e-mail.
The country’s gross domestic product grew just 5.6 percent in the first quarter, slower than the 6.5-percent expansion in the same period last year.
Yang said the Philippine economy would likely expand by 6.3 percent in 2020, also slower than the previous forecast of 6.7 percent.
“The downward revisions mainly reflect weaker-than-expected external demand and weaker-than-expected public investment, partly due to the delayed approval of the 2019 budget,” he said.
Yang these revised growth forecasts for the Philippines were still among the highest in the region.
The interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee earlier cut its 2019 growth target to a range of 6 percent to 7 percent from the previous estimate of 7 percent to 8 percent. It also reduced the 2020 growth target to a range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent from 7 percent to 8 percent.
