February 19 ------ The Philippine economy is seen to expand to over 7 percent in the next few years as forecast by global credit rating firms, Malacañang announced. Citing the recent report from S&P Global Ratings, Cabinet secretary and acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 7.4 percent this year. “This is within the 7 percent to 9 percent target of our economic managers,” Nograles said in a virtual press briefing.
The S&P earlier said it expects the rate of GDP growth to recover “quite strongly” over the next few years, while unemployment is seen to gradually ease down from its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Nograles, Fitch Ratings also sees the Philippines’ GDP to rise by 7 percent in 2023. The New York-based credit watcher also affirmed the country’s credit rating of “BBB,” a notch above the minimum investment grade.
“If you would recall, we have maintained the same rating from Fitch throughout the pandemic despite the wave of rating downgrades for many other countries during the same period,” Nograles shared. “We expect economic reform momentum to continue as we thank Congress for the recent passage of the amendments to the Foreign Investment Act, the Trade Liberalization Act, and the Public Service Act,” he added.
Source: mb.com.ph
Comentarios