Singapore bank expects RP growth to slow in Q3

The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) expects the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to have slowed down in the third quarter of the year compared to the growth in the first half of the year.  

DBS projects third quarter GDP to show an expansion of 6.7-percent year-on-year or slower than the 7.3- percent growth posted in the first half of the year. 

The investment bank believes the main drag will be the slowdown in exports. 

 “The import bill was likely larger, given the surge in oil prices during the quarter. Meanwhile personal spending should grow at around six-percent year-on-year for yet another quarter, though in the quarters ahead higher oil prices could have a moderating effect,” DBS said in a report yesterday. 

Furthermore, the bank said that the Philippines is still well on track to meeting DBS’ own growth projection this year of 6.9 percent.  

“For now we also retain our 6.6-percent growth forecast for next year, though oil prices are now an additional consideration,” DBS said. 

 The National Economic and DevelopmentAuthority (NEDA) and the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) are scheduled to report today the country’s third quarter economic growth.  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier said the economy could have expanded by seven percent in the third quarter, sustaining the robust growth seen in the first half. 

The central bank’s third quarter GDP forecast is well above the government’s full-year target range of 6.1 to 6.7 percent.  

Monetary authorities said that healthy remittance flows from Filipinos overseas have fuelled consumption, as well as a rise in state spending and sustained farm production. 

They also said that prospects of growth in agriculture, which accounts for a fifth of total GDP, remained positive despite a dry spell in the middle of the year.