By CHINO LEYCO
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its economic growth forecasts for the Philippines this year and next amid the skyrocketing consumer prices.
The Manila-based multilateral institution revised downwards its 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) projection for the country to 6.4 percent from an earlier estimate of 6.8 percent, and from 6.9 percent to 6.7 percent in 2019.
ADB’s GDP forecasts are below the Duterte administration’s annual growth target of 7.0 percent to 8.0 percent for the two-year period.
Along with the GDP, the ADB also revised its inflation forecasts for this year and 2019 as the lender expects a faster rate of increase in consumer prices.
For 2018, the ADB raised its inflation forecast to 5.0 percent from 4.0 percent, above the government’s target of 2.0 percent to 4.0 percent.
The bank also slightly adjusted upwards its inflation expectation for next year to 4.0 percent from 3.9 percent.
The slower GDP projections reflect “a moderation in agricultural output and exports, as well as higher inflation and continued global monetary tightening,” ADB said.
However, the bank noted that inflationary pressures are expected to taper off next year as tighter domestic monetary policy begins to take effect.
