MANILA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has further slashed its economic growth forecast for the Philippines for 2019 and 2020 to 5.7 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, as the economy slowed down in the second quarter and as external environment worsens, the Washington-based global lender said on Wednesday.
The IMF's updated projection for 2019 is below the government's 6 percent to 7 percent target range and lower to its July projection of 6 percent. In April, the IMF originally projected the Philippines to grow 6.5 percent this year.
The IMF projected the Philippine economy to grow 6.2 percent in 2020, still below the government's 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent target next year. The updated growth projection is lower than the 6.3 percent forecast in July.
The Philippine government is aiming to hit growth rates of 6 percent to 7 percent in 2019, 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent in 2020 and 7 percent to 8 percent from 2021 to 2022.
The Philippine economy grew 5.5 percent in the second quarter, weaker than 5.6 percent recorded in the preceding three months after the delayed approval of the 2019 budget disrupted state spending. The second quarter's 5.5 percent growth was the slowest expansion in 17 quarters.
In the IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) report for October 2019, the IMF said that the global economy is in a synchronized slowdown, with growth for 2019 downgraded again - to 3 percent - its slowest pace since the global financial crisis.
