Philippines pops the champagne on 6.6% economic growth

Second best performance in Asia.

According to BBVA, as the latest sign of strong growth in ASEAN, the Philippines posted a robust Q4 GDP outturn, surpassing expectations by a wide margin (6.8% y/y vs. consensus: 6.3%).

The outturn was underpinned by strong domestic demand as private and government consumption continue to support the economy. For the full year 2012, the Philippines grew by 6.6% -- the second best performance in Asia, after China (7.8%) – and well above the 3.7% performance in 2011.

"The Philippines may possibly receive an investment grade rating in 2013 (currently one notch below, with S&P raising its outlook for the Philippines to positive in December), on improved governance and a pickup in investment. We expect growth of around 6.0% for the Philippines in 2013, on sustained private and public consumption as well as rising investment," BBVA said.