MANILA, Philippines — After the Philippine economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, the World Bank has upwardly revised its 2017 growth projection for the country to 6.7 percent. In a statement issued on Friday, the Washington-based multilateral lender said it upgraded its economic growth forecast for the Philippines from the previous estimate of 6.6 percent “to reflect recent economic trends.”Meanwhile, World Bank’s growth outlook for next year remains at 6.7 percent. “Continued global economic recovery gaining steam has led to higher than expected export growth for the Philippines and an encouraging upturn for the third quarter of 2017,” said Birgit Hansl, World Bank Lead Economist for the Philippines. Simultaneous recovery in major advanced economies and in developing economies gave global trade a boost, World Bank said. On Wednesday, Manila-based Asian Development Bank also raised its 2017 and 2018 economic growth forecasts for the Philippines on the back of strong household consumption, manageable inflation and infrastructure investment.

Source: Philippine Star December 15, 2017 08:03 UTC