Robust investment, firm labor market drive growth in Q1 – Moody’s
Moody’s Analytics expects the Philippine economy to have expanded 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018 as robust investment, a firm labor market, and steady inflows of remittances boosted consumer spending. The forecast Q1 growth is faster than the actual expansion of 6.5% in Q4 2017 and 6.4% of a year ago, according to the Moody’s report. The government is scheduled to release the first-quarter gross domestic product data on May 10. Moody’s Analytics said the country’s economy is in “somewhat of a sweet spot” as consumer spending is rising at a healthy pace. The Philippines GDP expanded 6.7% in 2017 but economists foresee a more robust growth this year at 7% to 8% on the back of the government’s massive infrastructure spending. ING Bank Manila, the local unit of Dutch financial giant ING Bank, earlier revised upward its Q1 growth projection from 6.5% to 6.9% due to the accelerated government spending during the quarter.
