Think tanks trim Phl growth forecasts

The Philippine economy is expected to post below five percent growth this year, following the sharp slowdown in third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth, research and analysis firm BMI and United Kingdom-based think tank Pantheon Macroeconomics said in separate reports released yesterday.

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“The underperformance in Q3 (third quarter) has led us to revise down our 2025 forecast to 4.9 percent,” BMI said.

Previously, BMI was expecting the economy to post 5.4 percent growth this year.

“We expect the recovery from storm season and strong remittances to drive faster growth in Q4 (fourth quarter), although tariff-related headwinds will drag on growth,” the Fitch Solutions unit said.

Pantheon Macroeconomics chief emerging Asia economist Miguel Chanco and Asia economist Meekita Gupta said that they have also downgraded their GDP growth outlook to 4.9 percent for this year from the previous forecast of 5.3 percent, citing the abysmal third quarter growth performance.

Economic growth in the third quarter collapsed to four percent, a four-year low, as government infrastructure spending contracted amid corruption issues that also dampened consumer and investor confidence.