Property News · January 27, 2017

Real estate helped speed up the Philippine economy last year


Ambitious GDP targets already set for 2017
Makati, the financial district of metropolitan Manila. r.nagy/Shutterstock
The property sector played no small part in driving the Philippine economy to one of its fastest growth rates last year.
Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities (RERBA) in the Philippines grew 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with 7.8 percent in the same period in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The Philippines has lately been one of Southeast Asia’s stronger economic performers, registering a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.8 percent in 2016, the PSA reported. Cambodia and Laos meanwhile posted real GDP growth rates of 7 percent, while Vietnam and Indonesia grew 6 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, according to The World Bank.
PSA attributed the rapid expansion of RERBA mainly to the rental market. Renting & Business Activities grew 14.6 percent in Q4 2016, up from 11.5 percent in Q4 2015. Home ownership posted a growth of 2.8 percent, in pace with last year.
More: These islands will apparently be the ‘Dubai of the Philippines’
The Philippine economy’s Q4 showing was the slowest quarterly growth for 2016, but the statistics agency was quick to note that it surpasses the 6.5 percent growth seen in Q4 2015. GDP grew 7.1 percent in Q3 2016, the strongest among the ASEAN and the fastest growth for the country in three years.
The World Bank projects GDP growth of 6.9 percent for the Philippines this year, but local officials have been emboldened to set more ambitious targets.
“Given this growth in 2016, we believe that the target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for 2017 is highly likely,” said Ernesto Pernia, President Rodrigo Duterte’s socioeconomic planning secretary, in a statement yesterday. “In the medium-term, we expect growth to strengthen further towards 7 percent to 8 percent. This would mean that, over the next six years, the economy will expand by about 50 percent in real terms, and per capita income will rise by over 40 percent.
“This should bring us to the upper middle income category standing by 2022,” he added.
Read next: The Philippines is set to see even more investment from Singapore

Source : property-report.com
Read more…Real estate helped speed up the Philippine economy last year

You may also like...