The Philippine government raises its growth projections for the year following a better than expected GDP growth in the third quarter.
The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee ( DBCC) announced Wednesday that the GDP growth target for 2012 to range between six to seven percent, up from the original five to six percent growth target.
"Now that it's almost the end of the year, we can say that we will exceed the (original) growth forecast," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in an interview with reporters.
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) announced Wednesday morning that the Philippine economy rose by better than expected 7.1 percent in the third quarter on back of increased domestic spending, robust services sector and higher export revenues.
Given the strong growth posted in the first half of the year, this translated to a 6.5 percent growth in the first nine months of the year.
The DBCC also increased its balance of payments (BOP) surplus forecast for 2012 to 6.8 billion U.S. dollars, up from its previous outlook of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars. The BOP surplus as of October is at 6.435 billion U.S. dollars.
Foreign direct investments meanwhile is seen to reach 1.5 billion U.S. dollars this year, from its previous forecast of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. As of August, FDI's totaled to 1.038 billion U.S. dollars.
"This is based on the feedback that we get from investment promotion agencies. We also expect new investments for 2012, and it will be channeled to manufacturing, energy, and services," Deputy Central Bank Governor Diwa Guinigundo said./.