RHB | Economic Highlights (Philippines) – Growth To Pick Up In 2H From A Slow 1H, Supported By Infrastructure Spending

Economic Research
Philippines
Economic Outlook
Growth To Pick Up In 2H From A Slow 1H, Supported By Infrastructure Spending The Philippine’s real GDP growth moderated to 5.7% y-o-y in 1Q 2014, as impact from Typhoon Yolanda resulted in supply disruptions and infrastructure bottlenecks in disaster-hit areas, placing a drag on economic growth. The economy, however, is projected to improve to a growth of 6.6% y-o-y in 2H 2014, from an estimated +6.4% for the 1H with domestic demand envisaged to continue being the main driver of growth. Nonetheless, along with a slower-than-anticipated reconstruction efforts following Typhoon Yolanda, this caused us to revise lower our full year real GDP growth to 6.5% in 2014 and 7.1% in 2015, from our previous forecasts of 6.8% and 7.3% respectively. Economist:  Peck Boon Soon  | +603 9280 2163