(Bloomberg) --
The Philippines will no longer target economic growth as high as 8% by the time President Rodrigo Duterte steps down in 2022, according to his economic managers.
The annual expansion goal is now as high as 7.5% for 2020-2022, according to the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which is led by Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado.
“Continuing unresolved trade tensions” were a key consideration for economic managers who reviewed targets and estimates, Avisado said at a briefing Wednesday.
The same day, the Asian Development Bank cut its growth outlook for developing Asia this year and next, as trade tensions continue to weigh on the region and domestic investment weakens.
Below are some of the previous and updated targets and forecasts:
| 2019 | 2019 | 2020 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021 | 2022 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latest | Previous | Latest | Previous | Latest | Previous | Latest | Previous | |
| GDP growth target | 6%-6.5% | 6%-7% | 6.5%-7.5% | 6.5%-7.5% | 6.5%-7.5% | 7%-8% | 6.5%-7.5% | 7%-8% |
| Inflation forecast | 2.4% | 2.7%-3.5% | 2%-4% | 2%-4% | 2%-4% | 2%-4% | 2%-4% | 2%-4% |
| Exports forecast | 1% | 2% | 4% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Foreign exchange | ||||||||
| assumption (peso/$) | 51-52 | 51-53 | 51-54 | 51-55 | 51-54 | 51-55 | 51-54 | 51-55 |
| Budget deficit cap | ||||||||
| target (% of GDP) | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% |
Philippine economic managers are pushing to scale back tax perks and additional levies on e-cigarettes and tobacco to help fund a major infrastructure push, aimed in part at boosting growth, the budget secretary said.
--With assistance from Michael Munoz and Ditas Lopez.
To contact the reporters on this story: Siegfrid Alegado in Makati at aalegado1@bloomberg.net;Claire Jiao in Makati at cjiao5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, ;Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Michael S. Arnold
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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