Asia Economy

Although economic headwinds have thrown international markets off course, the Philippine economy has managed to stay on a relatively even keel. Local authorities note that while real GDP growth slowed in 2011 relative to 2010 due to weak external demand and government underspending, household consumption has continued to see strong growth due to a...

A 2010 World Bank report noted that “middle-income countries in East Asia will, on average, need to spend over 5% of GDP on infrastructure to meet their needs.” This fact has not gone unheeded by the government and the need to up spending on key infrastructure projects has been brought to the top of the priority list by economic planners. President...

The Philippines’ wealth of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) allows for a steady inflow of cash ($20bn in 2011) and keeps local unemployment down. This is facilitated by a number of factors, including the deliberate choice of English as the medium of education and the government’s promotion and regulation of migration flows. However...

In its annual report released in March 2012, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) noted that although it is a mixed picture for Asia-Pacific sovereigns for the next 12-18 months, countries in the region face global and domestic rises from a relatively strong position. For the Philippines this is especially true as the government has shown progress in...

Despite the effects of some negative developments in the economies of the US and the eurozone, business in the Philippines has continued to remain relatively brisk. Foreign investors have taken heart from President Benigno Aquino III’s promotion of transparency as well as the administration’s efforts to root out corruption and create a level playing...

Lying south of Taiwan and east of Vietnam, the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago of over 7000 islands. The country’s geography and complex history has given rise to a diversity of cultures and languages across the country’s 1000 inhabited islands.