MANILA (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) kept its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this year at 6.0%, and projected next year’s GDP expansion to come in between 5.5% and 6.0%, a Fund official said on Friday.
IMF mission head Jay Peiris, in a press conference in Manila following a staff visit, said fighting inflation was the “first priority” for Philippine policymakers, and fiscal and monetary measures will help bring that down.
The IMF’s growth forecast for this year is at the low end of the Philippine government’s growth target of 6.0% to 7.0%. The Fund previously projected next year’s growth at 5.8%.
The Fund’s latest outlook for the Philippines follows the Southeast Asian country’s stronger-than-expected economic performance in the first quarter, which put the country on track to meet its growth goals for this year and next.
Although growth in the first quarter was the Philippines’ slowest in two years at 6.4%, it was among the fastest in Southeast Asia.
“The main downside risks to the outlook continue to be persistently high core inflation, depreciation pressures amid tighter global conditions, geoeconomic fragmentation, and balance sheet impacts related to higher borrowing costs,” the IMF said in a statement.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty, William Maclean)
