Q1 GDP would’ve hit 7.2% if only 2019 nat’l budget was OKd on time

MANILA, Philippines --- If only legislators did not scramble over "pork" and passed the 2019 national budget on time, the Philippine economy would have grown by an almost six-year high of 7.2 percent, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Monday. "Underspending of P69.5 billion in the first quarter of the year reduced GDP [gross domestic product] growth by 1.6 percentage points. This was offset by election spending of candidates and lower consumer inflation by the combined impact of about 0.7 percentage point of GDP, boosting household consumption by 6.3 percent in real terms," DOF Undersecretary and chief economist Gil S. Beltran said in an economic bulletin. GDP growth fell to a f...

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