Inquirer.Net-May 12
The Philippines has gained brownie points for holding generally smooth elections, but economists still doubt the country’s growth prospects for the year as they await clues to the economic policies of President-apparent Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Fitch Solutions, in their latest country risk assessment, said a Marcos victory “bodes well for policy continuity” in the country and suggests a smooth transition from the outgoing Duterte administration. “We have raised the Philippines short-term political risk index (STPRI) score to 66.5 out of 100, from 64.0 previously,” Fitch Solutions said in the report. A higher score means greater political stability in a country and less risk for investors. Short-term means the outlook horizon reaches 12 months ahead. The slight improvement in the Philippines’ STPRI score is based solely on an improvement in the policy continuity component, with Fitch Solutions raising the score to 80 from 70. The other components are unchanged. Still, the company believes that Marcos will likely continue many of Duterte’s economic policies, especially the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program—something that the former senator has publicly said he would do. But Fitch, like other economic think tanks, is also uncertain at the possible economic directions since the president-apparent has not clarified his position on key issues. Miguel Chanco, chief emerging Asia economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a report on Wednesday, agreed that Marcos’ “landslide victory” eased some uncertainty. Read more at:
