After the Department of Finance (DoF) predicted that the Philippine economy will grow between five to six percent in 2012 and six to seven percent in 2013, it’s the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) turn to make its own forecast.
According to the BSP, it joins the DoF for the optimistic forecast, saying all good indications are seen in the local economy, so there’s no reason not to see the same scenario.
Deputy governor for monetary stability sector Diwa Guinigundo said the Philippines’ macrofundamentals are intact and enough to bring much needed growth in the country.
Macrofundamentals are the usual growth drivers that usually bring growth to the economy.
Earlier, the DoF had said at least six fundamentals, which it called growth drivers, will push the economy to meet the expected growth for next year and 2013.
The six are food sector, tourism, increase in retail trade activities, business process outsourcing (BPO), electronic manufacturing and commu-nications network modernization.      
“Our macrofundamentals remain supportive of high and sustainable growth. Public-private partnership (PPP) projects could be in full blast courtesy of higher public spending,” Guinigundo explained to The Daily Tribune.           
Guinigundo said the good credit upgrade expected to be given to the Philippines is another good indication that the economy will have better potentials in the next few years.
“With the possible credit upgrade, private domestic and foreign investments could surge,” the deputy governor said.
Guinigundo said the perennial growth drivers in the Philippines, BPO, OFWs’ remittances and tourism, will remain dependable given the good image of the country that attracts tourists and investors.
“BPO and tourists’ receipts with personal remittances could combine to help expand effective demand,” he said.    
The DoF and BSP’s positive outlook for the country came a few days after a financial expert said the Philippines is now the strongest-performing economy in Asia.
The expert, Michael Spencer, chief economist of Deutsche Bank AG, attributed the positive outlook to the improved exports of the Philippines even in a weak global environment.
“The strongest-performing economy in the Asia today is the Philippines,” Spencer was quoted as saying.
The economist said exports of the Philippines for the first half that reached $26.8 million is a solid indication the country is experiencing a better journey than before.
The export growth was up 7.68 percent from $24.8 million in the same period in 2011.
Spencer said only China, which registered an 8.1 percent export growth for the same period, has performed better than the Philippines.
The country’s export performance has been insulated from weak external demand, particularly from US and Europe, by increasing outbound shipments to Japan, according to him.    
“What’s driving growth in the Philippines today is exports, surprisingly enough for them,” he said.