Resource information
The Philippine Economic Update (PEU)
provides an update on key economic and social developments,
as well as policies over the past six months. It also
presents findings from recent World Bank studies on the
Philippines. It places them in a longer term and global
context, and assesses the implications of these developments
and policies on the outlook for the Philippines. Its
coverage ranges from the macro-economy and financial markets
to indicators of human welfare and development. It is
intended for a wide audience, including policymakers,
business leaders, financial market participants, and the
community of analysts and professionals engaged in the
Philippines. Poverty reduction is expected to continue if
the country is able to maintain the relatively high economic
growth and the more positive job trends in recent years,
despite recent shocks to agriculture. Recent trends show an
improvement in the country’s growth-poverty elasticity,
which means growth is becoming more inclusive. However, the
recent increase in the underemployment rate and weak
agricultural output in 2016 will need to be countered by
sustained increase in per capita income growth and a
continued focus on supporting the structurally poor through
effective social protection programs. Under these
assumptions, extreme poverty is projected to further
decrease from nine percent in 2014 to 6.8 percent in 2018.
