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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy will likely perform worse in the second quarter, with growth possibly slowing to as low as 1.5 percent from the first quarter’s 2.8 percent as the oil shock exacerbates already weak consumption and investment, the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) said.
In its latest discussion paper, the CPBRD said it initially estimates second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth to settle between 2.5 percent and 3 percent.
However, the think tank warned that these estimates may still be optimistic and fail to fully capture the impact of the ongoing energy crisis triggered by the war.
“The latest available data points do not reflect the full extent of the energy crisis. A full quarter of severely elevated fuel, fertilizer, and other key commodity prices could be expected to exert an even larger effect on growth. As such, a more conservative forecast range would settle from 1.5% to 2.5%,” the CPBRD said.
