GDP growth in Q1 at lower end of 6-7% target — Pernia

MANILA, Philippines — Economic growth in the first quarter likely settled within the lower end of the government's revised six to seven percent growth target this year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said yesterday.

“Perhaps more on the lower end because we operated on a reenacted budget for four months, a third of the year,” he told reporters. “But maybe above six percent growth.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority set to release the economic growth figures for the first quarter of the year on May 9.

Pernia said despite the delay in spending for government projects and programs, the economy also received a boost from increased household spending as inflation cools, as well as consumption related to the upcoming elections.

“Lower inflation motivated more spending of households and there is also election-related spending,” he said.

The growth expectation for the first quarter of the year already takes into consideration the effects of the interest rate hikes implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last year.

With the signing of the 2019 national budget in April after a long impasse, Pernia said growth could be expected to pick up faster in the second and third quarter of the year as the dry weather would enable more projects to progress, hence accelerating spending.

“There can be some catch-up, maybe, in terms of spending in the second and third quarter because of the dry weather,” he said.

To aid government spending during the first quarter, economic managers had asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exempt 145 priority projects from the election spending ban that started in March 29 and will end on May 12.

Pernia said, however, that the Comelec asked for a shorter list on the day the spending ban started.

“They did not approve our omnibus list for exemption but they asked for a specific one in terms of priorities. We submitted the list on Feb. 18 and they gave us an answer that we have to be more selective on March 29, exactly on the day the ban started,” he said.

Pertinent agencies, he said, have already forwarded lists of projects that are of higher priority.