Philippines shakes off inflation for best growth since 1976
THE Philippines weathered the fastest inflation and highest policy rate in 14 years to deliver one of Asia’s strongest expansions, shoring up the economy by the most in decades amid a bleak global outlook.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.2 per cent year on year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday (Jan 26). This was higher than a median estimate of 6.6 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. Output rose 2.4 per cent from the previous quarter.
For the full year, GDP expanded 7.6 per cent in 2022, surpassing the 7.4 per cent survey median. National statistician Dennis Mapa said this was the best annual performance since 1976. Services and consumption drove the South-east Asian economy last year as the reopening after the peak of the pandemic spurred travel and dining out.
Arsenio Balisacan, secretary at the National Economic and Development Authority, said the government was confident that the economy would remain on a high-growth trajectory. After the data, Philippine stocks rose as much as 0.3 per cent, while the peso traded 0.2 per cent higher against the US dollar.
China’s reopening will be a boon to the Philippines, Balisacan added.
The country is poised to keep on growing near 7 per cent, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said earlier this month. Meanwhile, South Korea, a bellwether for the global economy given its dependence on trade, saw its economy shrink last quarter.
Last quarter’s print showed that domestic demand held up even as inflation bolted to the fastest since 2008, leading to the most aggressive monetary tightening in two decades. Central bank governor Felipe Medalla said last week that price gains are expected to cool in the coming months, making room to end the rate hike cycle this quarter. BLOOMBERG
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