MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) retained its 6.4 percent growth forecast for the Philippines this year and 6.7 percent in 2019 on the back of strong infrastructure spending and still buoyant consumption despite rising prices. Growth in government spending also picked up on higher social service expenditure and on salary hikes for government workers,” said ADB in the ADO supplement. Next year, GDP growth is expected to be fuelled by robust public and private investment, ADB. ADB, however, hiked its inflation forecast for the Philippines this year to 5.3 percent from the September forecast of five percent. On a regional context, growth forecast for developing Asia remain unchanged at six percent for 2018 and 5.8 percent in 2019 as the region is expected to weather external headwinds.

Source: Philippine Star December 12, 2018 16:01 UTC