PH an Asean ‘economic laggard’ – Maybank
Investment banking and stock brokerage group Maybank said the Philippines is set to become a ‘laggard’ in Southeast Asia with the deepest economic contraction. Currently, the bank is projecting a deeper Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction of 7.8 per cent instead of 6.5 per cent this year for the Philippines.
This is bigger than the contraction projection of its Asian counterparts: Thailand with 6.2 per cent, Singapore with 5.7 per cent, Malaysia with 5.4 per cent, and Indonesia with 1.8 per cent.
Maybank said the Philippine economy may grow at a faster rate of 5.8 percent for 2021 and 6.2 percent in 2022.
“We forecast ASEAN-6 real GDP growth recovering to 5.3 percent in 2021 and five percent in 2022 after contracting 3.8 percent in 2020. The recovery will be more U-shaped than V for most of ASEAN, with real GDP returning to pre-pandemic levels only in early 2022,” Maybank said.
