The Philippines is forecast to register the fastest economic growth in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus 3 in 2024 and 2025, according to the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

The ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO) 2024 report published this week revealed the AMRO predicts the Philippine economy to grow by 6.3% in 2024, the same as its growth forecast released in January.

This forecast surpassed the revised 5.5% growth posted in 2023, and is within the government's adjusted growth target range of 6-7% for this year.

"(The) 6.3% (growth) is a very strong performance, among the highest in the region," said AMRO chief economist, Hoe Ee Khor.

AMRO's growth forecast for the Philippines for this year exceeds its projections for other economies in the region such as Cambodia (6.2%), Vietnam (6%), China (5.3%), Indonesia (5.2%), Malaysia (5%), Lao People's Democratic Republic (4.7%), Hong Kong (3.5%), Myanmar (3.2%), Thailand (2.9%), Brunei (2.7%), Singapore (2.6%), South Korea (2.3%) and Japan (1.1%), The Philippine Star reports.

The GDP forecast for the Philippines for this year also surpassed AMRO's projected growth rates for ASEAN+3 and Southeast Asia.

Moreover, for 2025, AMRO forecasts the Philippines to grow at a faster pace of 6.5%, within the 6.5% - 7.5% growth target set by the government.

If AMRO's 2025 GDP forecast for the Philippines materialises, the country will emerge as the fastest-growing economy alongside Vietnam within the ASEAN+3 region next year.

The growth projection for the Philippines next year also surpasses AMRO's forecasted 4.2% growth for ASEAN+3 and a 4.9% expansion for ASEAN in 2025.

In addition, regarding the inflation outlook, AMRO anticipates inflation in the Philippines to decrease to 3.6% this year and further decline to 2.9% next year, following last year's 6%, which exceeded the 2-4% target range set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

"Inflation is still on the high side and I think the (BSP) governor has expressed the view they are going to wait until inflation has come off more before they will start to feel comfortable about easing. So when this is going to happen, we don't really know. I think there is a slight risk this year, because of the synchronised upswing in the global economy, inflationary pressure may actually be on the upside rather than on the downside. It may slowdown the moderation in the growth rate and in which case, then it will delay any easing in monetary policy," Khor added.