ADB downgrades Philippine annual growth forecast to 6.2%

 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday downgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines this year following the country's lower-than-expected third quarter expansion.
In a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook 2014 Update, the ADB revised its growth outlook for the Philippines to six percent for the full-year from its previous forecast of 6.2 percent.
"Robust private consumption and higher private investment and net exports were insufficient to balance unexpectedly weak public spending," said ADB.
However, the ADB maintained its Philippine forecast for 2015.
"Continued strong household consumption bolstered by steady growth in remittances and increases in domestic employment will, along with improved government spending, support a pickup in growth next year and the Update's growth forecast of 6.4 percent for 2015," the document said.
The ADB added that first nine month growth in several large Southeast Asian economies was disappointing, prompting slight reductions to projections for Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
The ADB also downgraded the forecast for the gross domestic product growth for the region this year from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent. Its forecast for 2015 regional growth was mended to 6.2 percent from 6.4 percent previously.