Pinoys’ optimism consistent with PH economic outlook: Palace

FILE: “We consider these ratings, classified ‘excellent’ by SWS, consistent with our high economic growth which registered 6.9 percent in the third quarter of the year,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said during a Palace briefing. (PCOO PHOTO)

MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday hailed the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed rising optimism among Filipinos that their personal lives and the economy would get better next year, saying the trend is consistent with the growth of the Philippine economy.

The SWS survey conducted from September 23 to 27 showed that 47 percent of Filipino adults expect their lives to improve in the next 12 months against only 4 percent who expect it to get worse, for a net personal optimism of +42, which is classified by the SWS as “excellent.”

This was two points above the excellent +40 in June.

Meanwhile, the survey showed that 43 percent of Filipino adults are optimistic that the general economy would get better next year while 12 percent feel it would deteriorate, resulting in a net optimism score of +30, which is also classified as “excellent” by the SWS.

This was three points higher than the excellent +27 in June.

“We consider these ratings, classified ‘excellent’ by SWS, consistent with our high economic growth which registered 6.9 percent in the third quarter of the year,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said during a Palace briefing.

He pointed out that the 6.9 percent rise of the country’s gross national product (GDP) “exceeded market expectations” and it is faster than the 6.7 percent growth in the second quarter.

“Furthermore, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently raised its Philippine GDP forecast for 2017 from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent; and from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent for 2018,” Roque noted.

In its report Wednesday, the ADB said its upgraded outlook for the nation’s economy “assumes that growth in the government’s infrastructure program will accelerate, supported by improvements in budget execution, with more large investment projects underway.”

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure program aptly named “Build, Build, Build,” that aims to spend an estimated PHP9 trillion on hard and modern infrastructure until 2022.

The ADB report came on the heels of the rating upgrade handed out by Fitch Ratings which upgraded the Philippines’ Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating to “BBB, with a stable outlook” from BBB-.

In its report released last Monday, Fitch likewise forecasted that “the Philippines will have a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.8 percent in 2018 and 2019 due to expected higher infrastructure spending.”

Fitch added that the Philippines’ expected 6.8 percent GDP growth in the next two years would maintain the country’s place among the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Besides the favorable economic outlook, Roque said the liberation of Marawi City from the hands of Islamic State-linked terrorists and the subsequent rehabilitation efforts is another cause for hope among Filipinos.

“Our people have reasons to be optimistic as Marawi is liberated and growth performance of the Philippines is expected to be sustained,” he said.

To further ensure that the Philippine economy sustains its growth rate — and maintain the optimism among Filipinos — the Palace spokesperson called on the business sector to take a more active part as the government strives to create a more business-friendly environment.

“Having said this, we urge businesses and entrepreneurs to continue investing, increasing productivity, improving services, and creating employment opportunities while the government does its part in improving business and governance,” Roque said.