Australia’s Macquarie Bank is optimistic Philippine economic growth this year will be intact at 6.2 percent as the economy continues to reopen, according to a statement released yesterday by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Australia said.
While the bank believes consumption will return after the national elections last May 9, it noted higher energy and food prices will impact inflation.
“The Philippines has been growing at an average of more than 6 percent prior to the pandemic and we expect this growth to be intact in 2022,” said Martin Lakos, wealth management director for Macquarie Bank at the Australia-Philippines Economic Outlook event organized by the Australia Philippine Business Council on May 12.
Lakos said a Marcos presidency will unlikely impact foreign investment noting that local businesses are more skeptical.
He did not elaborate.
Lakos added Macquarie sees the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shedding its dovish stance in 2022, when the economy reopens in full and when peso and inflation concerns become more pressing.
“We thus expect policy rates to rise to 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2022 and further see an upside risk to this forecast,” Lakos added.
Alma Argayoso, Philippine Trade Representative to Australia, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, said the better-than-expected GDP growth of 5.6 percent in 2021 shows the Philippines is on the path to economic recovery and on track to have a strong rebound in 2022.
The Philippine economy also expanded to 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 exceeding the pre-pandemic first-quarter level,
“There’s a lot going for investors looking for long-term opportunities in the Philippines post-pandemic and post-elections. We have a large domestic market of 110 million people with rising middle income and excellent trade options both within Asia and beyond,” Argayoso said.
“We have a wide network and superior free trade agreements (FTAs) with our major trading partners including Australia and New Zealand through AANZFTA. This means that the Philippines is a natural choice for foreign companies looking at relocating or establishing their operations overseas that is accessible to key global markets such as the Asean, EU, and the US, as these countries have preferential tariff agreements with the Philippines,” Argayoso added.
Argayoso presented strategic opportunities in key industry sectors such as information technology-business process management, electronics, automotive, aerospace and copper mining. Irma Isip
