Economy

Relative insulation from China has been a saving grace for the Philippines since 2014, helping sustain high growth rates as most other South-east Asian economies have slowed. Yet the Philippines will continue to be affected by the developing changes in China.

For a concise summary of the Philippines’ plans and aspirations for its economic future, the Cebu Action Plan (CAP) is probably the best place to start – even though it is aimed at a much broader area than the Philippines.

With GDP growth coming in at 5.8% for 2015, after averaging 6.2% from 2010-14, the Philippine economy is establishing a record of stable high growth rates. Markets have recently been focusing on short-term downside risks emanating from slowing growth in China and South-east Asia, and the Philippines’ farm and food-processing sectors were hit...

The Philippine economy’s reliance on remittances from overseas Filipino workers is often seen as a vulnerability and a path by which turbulence in foreign markets can reach local shores. Those fears recently came to the fore after the growth of remittances slowed in 2014 and news reports appeared in the summer of 2015 suggesting remittances...