UN: Strong Domestic Demand Can Support PH Growth Despite Global Recession

The United Nations (UN) has mentioned that strong domestic demand can aid Philippine economic growth for 2023 despite a looming global recession.

“There’s still a fairly good outlook for the Philippines as a whole. What supports the Philippines’ performance is still a very strong domestic economy which allows growth to be supported from that angle,”  mentioned UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Economic Affairs Officer Shuvojit Banerjee.

In their report, the UN predicts that the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 5% in 2023. This number is lower than the 7.7% forecast the UN gave last January 2022.

This new forecast is below the government target of 6-7% this 2023.

UNESCAP likewise predicts the GDP of the Philippines to expand to 6.1% in 2024, which is below the 6.5-8% target of the government.

Last year, the Philippine economy grew by 7.6%, which is the quickest in over 46 years and one of the strongest in Asia.

“Even in a climate of strong external pressure, which is in common with the rest of the developing world, what is supporting the Philippine economy has been strong domestic demand and supportive government policy and that is likely to be what will sustain the positive growth outlook for the country going forward,” mentioned Mr. Banerjee.

The UN likewise predicts the global economy to grow by 1.9% this 2023. This is a drop from the prediction of 3% last 2022. This new prediction comes after high inflation, increased money tightening, and possible recessions in several countries.

“There’s been a sharp deterioration of global growth prospects. What we see is a broad-based downturn in 2023 except for China. The outlook remains highly uncertain,”  says Mr. Banerjee.

Source: Business World