MANILA — Malacañang on Monday assured that the country’s robust economic growth will be backed up by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained investments in infrastructure and social services.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark as he welcomed two studies seeing the Philippines’ economy growing by at least 6.8 percent for the first quarter of the year.
According to Moody’s Analytics, the country’s economy will hit 6.8 percent while findings of the Oxford Business Group in Asean CEO survey predicted the gross domestic product (GDP) to register between 6 to 8 percent growth.
The Moody’s Analytics attributed the faster economic growth to increased investments and stronger consumer spending supported by stable inflows of remittances from overseas Filipino workers.
Roque said the country is also expected to remain as one of Asia’s fastest growing major economies over the coming years.
“We guarantee that the country’s robust economic growth will be supported by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained investments in infrastructure and social services, such as education, health and social protection,” he said.
On the other hand, the Oxford survey found that investors’ sentiment and business prospects for the Philippines remain upbeat.
“We guarantee that the Duterte administration remains on track in accelerating the country’s growth rate by improving the ease of doing business to transform the country into the one of the world’s leading investment destinations,” Roque said.
Early this year, the government rolled out 75 flagship projects with a combined total investments of USD36 billion under the massive “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program by the Duterte administration.
Last year, OFWs’ remittances reached USD28.1 billion, 4.3 percent higher compared to USD26.9 billion in 2016. (Jelly Musico with reports from Elijah Mendoza, OJT/PNA)
