World Bank growth forecasts for PH unchanged

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank maintained its growth forecasts for the Philippines even as it lowered its projections for the global economy and said developing countries would have a “disappointing growth” this year.

The Washington-based agency said in its Global Economic Prospects report released Tuesday, June 10, that the Philippine economy was expected to grow above 6% this year up to 2016.

The economy is seen to expand by 6.6%t this year, 6.9% in 2015, and 6.5% by the end of the Aquino administration’s term.

“Ambitious and advanced reform agendas in some countries (China, Mexico, and the Philippines), and past reforms in others (Colombia and Peru) are enabling these countries to better navigate global financial headwinds,” the report said.

“A projected acceleration of growth in the Philippines in 2015 reflects accelerated reconstruction efforts,” the report added.

In the first quarter, the Philippine economy grew at a slower pace of 5.7% due to the lingering effects of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The World Bank said that developing economies were headed for a year of disappointing growth following continued weakness in the first quarter.

The lender said that bad weather in the US, the crisis in Ukraine, rebalancing in China, political strife in several middle-income economies, slow progress on structural reform, and capacity constraints would all contribute to a third straight year of sub-5% growth for the developing region as a whole.

“Growth rates in the developing world remain far too modest to create the kind of jobs we need to improve the lives of the poorest 40%,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.

“Clearly, countries need to move faster and invest more in domestic structural reforms to get broad-based economic growth to levels needed to end extreme poverty in our generation,” he said. – Rappler.com