THE Philippine economy will likely hit -and could even exceed- the 6.5 percent gross domestic product (GDP) forecast of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 2018, the country’s chief economist said on Thursday. In a press conference in Malacañang, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the Philip-pines could outpace the ADB’s revised forecast, which was the “lower range” of the government’s tar-get for 2017. In fact, it’s probable that we can exceed that lower end of our target… Well, 6.5 percent is the lower range of our target. “Developing Asia is off to a good start this year with improved exports pushing growth prospects for the rest of 2017,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. “Robust domestic demand — particularly private consumption and investment — will continue to sup-port growth in the subregion,” the report added.

Source: Manila Times July 20, 2017 09:56 UTC