Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research, a unit of Fitch Group, on Wednesday raised its growth forecast for the Philippine construction industry in 2021 to 13 percent from a previous estimate of 9.5 percent as infrastructure will be among the government’s spending priorities to revive the economy from the effects of the pandemic and natural disasters.
“Infrastructure will be at the center of Philippine government’s plans to revive the economy after damage caused by 2020’s typhoon season and lockdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fitch Solutions said in a report.
The budget allocation for the Public Works Department was increased to P695.7 billion, up by 61.3 percent from the previous year.
The Transportation Department will also see a 4.4 percent rise in 2021 budget to P87.9 billion. “Given this budget allocation, we expect sectors such as roads and bridges, water infrastructure and rail to contribute the most to the construction’s industry overall growth in 2021,” it said.