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| Sen, Win Gatchalian / Photo from CNN Phils. (ctto) |
Sick man of Asia no more!!!
Fresh from being hailed as
the “Best country to invest in,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian made that bold
statement- that the Philippines is no longer the sick man of asia.
The senator who is affiliated with Presiden
Rodrigo Roa Duterte stressed that the achievements of the country for the past
years are making up for the lost time that we should have been advancing as a
nation.
"Over the past few
decades, the Philippines came to be known as the 'sick man of Asia' due to its
disappointing economic performance in comparison to its Asian neighbors.
Fortunately, international recognition of the country's vibrant economic
outlook through rankings such as these indicates that the sick man of Asia is
nearing full recovery," he said.
The senator from Valenzuela is referring to the recent Best Countries
2018 report, a comprehensive ranking released by US News & World Report in
cooperation with Y&R's BAV Group and the prestigious Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania.
Under the Best Country to Invest In category,
the Philippines earned the top score among 80 countries.
According to the US News website, the ranking
was generated from the input of more than 6,000 "business decision
makers," who scored their perceptions of each country regarding eight
attributes: "corrupt, dynamic, economically stable, entrepreneurial,
favorable tax environment, innovative, skilled labor force and technological
expertise."
Gatchalian, who heads the
committee on Economic Affairs in the Senate, expressed optimism that the
policies of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration would "keep our
economy moving in the right direction."
The Duterte administration’s
ambitious BUILD BUILD BUILD project has been cited by the respected economic
ratings firms in forecasting a bullish Philippine economy for 2018 and 2019.
In December last year, Fitch
Ratings upgraded the Philippines’ Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating
to BBB from BBB-.
Fitch Ratings forecasted that
“the Philippines will have a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.8
percent in 2018 and 2019 due to expected higher infrastructure spending.”
The global leader in credit
ratings added that the Philippines’ expected 6.8 percent GDP growth in the next
two years would maintain the country’s place among the fastest-growing
economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the last quarter of 2017,
Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised raised its Philippine GDP forecast for 2018
from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent.
In its report, the ADB said
its upgraded outlook for the nation’s economy “assumes that growth in the
government's infrastructure program will accelerate, supported by improvements
in budget execution, with more large investment projects underway."
Source: PNA
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