The National Economic and Development Authority said Wednesday it is optimistic on the economic outlook after the gross domestic product picked up by 6.2 percent in the third quarter.
“I am delighted that we will be closing this year upbeat in retrospect and optimistic looking forward,” Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA director-general Ernesto Pernia said in his 2019 year-end statement.
“The economy has continued to grow this year despite its initial slowdown in the first two quarters and the obstacles that were thrown its way”•from the El Niño phenomenon that resulted in water shortages, the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget, to the US-China trade war, among other things,” he said.
Pernia said the Philippines stayed as one of the best-performing economies in Asia after posting a 6.2-percent expansion in the third quarter. “We are the second-fastest growing major economy after Vietnam”•ahead of China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand,” he said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that in the first three quarters of 2019, the economy grew by 5.8 percent, just slightly below the lower-end of the 6 percent to 6.5 percent growth target for 2019. This was supported by the robust growth in public spending, and buoyant consumption spending amid the easing of inflation.
Pernia said growth became more inclusive, as the government was able to lift more Filipinos out of poverty in 2018 when poverty incidence dropped to 16.6 percent of the population from 23.3 percent in 2015.
“The number of poor Filipinos”•or the magnitude of poverty”•went down from 23.5 million Filipinos in 2015 to 17.6 million Filipinos in 2018. This means that we have lifted 5.9 million Filipinos from poverty between 2015 and 2018,” he said. Julito G. Rada
Prices, which are a major concern of ordinary Filipinos, remained stable, as inflation rate averaged 2.5 percent in the first 11 months.
He said that in terms of employment, the labor market remained strong with more and better quality jobs being created in the past three years. The Labor Force Survey showed that unemployment rate dropped from 5.1 percent in 2018 to 4.5 percent this year, the lowest in the last ten years. Underemployment rate also eased to 13 percent from 13.3 percent in 2018.
The country also climbed up the Global Innovation Index rankings for 2019, jumping to the 54th place out of 129 economies, from 73rd in 2018.
“Looking at these milestones in our journey, we see a stable economic performance for 2019, even as we remain vigilant and prepared to face risks such as the possible water shortages in 2020, weak global growth and stagnating world trade, disruptive technologies and the volatility of oil prices,” Pernia said.