THE Department of Finance (DOF) sees the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the third quarter to hit 6.5 percent, due to growth in expenditures, among others.
Based on a text message sent by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III to reporters quoting Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, the DOF expects the country’s GDP for the third quarter to hit 6.5 percent, higher than the 6 percent recorded in the second quarter and the 6.4 percent revised growth for the first half of the year.
“We expect GDP growth in the third quarter to be higher than the first- half revised growth of 6.4 percent, at least 6.5 percent, due to the 30-percent growth in national government expenditures and the 8.8-percent real growth in manufacturing production. We also expect growth to be investment-led due to the 47 percent rise in national government capital outlays,” Beltran said.
Q2 growth higher
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday reported a revised second-quarter GDP rate of 6.2 percent, higher than the initial estimate of 6 percent. This now placed the first- semester growth at 6.4 percent instead of the initial estimate of 6.3 percent.
“Major contributors to the upward revision were Other Services; Real Estate, Renting and Business Activity; and Mining and Quarrying,” the PSA said.
The PSA also said Net Primary Income (NPI) from the Rest of the World (ROW) was revised downward to 4.1 percent from 4.7 percent.
However, this did not negatively affect Gross National Income, which was revised upward to 5.9 percent from 5.8 percent.
The PSA revises the GDP estimates based on its approved revision policy stated in PSA Board Resolution 1, Series of 2017-053.
The resolution is consistent with international standard practices on national accounts revisions.
The government will release the country’s third-quarter economic performance on Thursday.
Confident
Last month, it was reported that First Metro Investment Corp.-University of Asia and the Pacific (FMIC-UA&P) Capital Market Research remained confident the economy will post growth of above 6 percent in the third quarter.
In its Market Call report, FMIC-UA&P said investments and government spending will boost economic growth, amid the weakness in consumer spending due to high inflation.
FMIC-UA&P Capital Market Research said capital goods imports increased by 39 percent in July, while government spending on infrastructure grew 28.7 percent in August. It also projects inflation to average 6.1 percent in November and 6.2 percent in December.
With a report by Cai U. Ordinario