The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is an archipelago made up of 7,106 islands located in relation to many of Southeast Asia’s main water bodies: the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and Luzon Strait. Proximate countries include Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The geography is mountainous with narrow coastal lowlands. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. The Philippines has a mixed economic system which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic planning and government regulation. Philippines is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Efforts to improve taxA fee imposed by a government on personal or corporate incom... administration and expenditures management have helped ease the Philippines’ debtMoney owed to another person or organisation, such as a loan... burden and tight fiscal situation. The Philippines has received investment-grade creditAn arrangement in which an item for sale is received by the ... ratings on its sovereign debtMoney owed to another person or organisation, such as a loan... under the AQUINO administration and has had little difficulty financing its budgetAllocation of funds or the estimation of costs for a departm... deficits. However, weak absorptive capacity and implementation bottlenecks have prevented the government from maximizing its expenditure plans, which the administration has been working to address. Although it has improved, the low tax-to-GDP ratio remains a constraint to supporting increasingly higher spending levels and sustaining strong growth over the longer term. Economic growthAn increase in a region's or nation's production of goods an... has accelerated, averaging 6.0% per year from 2011 to 2015, compared with 4.5% under the MACAPAGAL-ARROYO government; and competitiveness rankings have improved. The Philippines has not sustained steady growth in foreign direct investmentMoney or capital that is invested in a business or in an acc..., which continues to lag regional peers.
Although the economyThe management of money, currency and trade of a nation. The... has grown at a faster pace under the AQUINO government, challenges to achieving more inclusive growth remain. The unemploymentAn economic situation in which jobless people, often those w... rate has declined somewhat in recent years but remains high, hovering at around 6.5%; underemployment is also high, ranging from 18% to 19% of the employed. At least 40% of the employed work in the informal sector. Poverty afflicts about a quarter of the population. More than 60% of the poor reside in rural areas, a challenge to raising rural farm and non-farm incomes. The AQUINO administration has been working to boost expenditures for education, health, transfers to the poor, and other social spending programs. Infrastructure remains underfunded and the government is relying on the private sectorThe part of a country's economy which is owned and run for p... to help with major projects under its Public-Private PartnershipA business which is owned by two or more people, all sharing... program. Continued efforts are needed to improve governance, the judicial system, the regulatory environment, and the overall ease of doing business.
Important Details
- Country ISO3 : PHL
- Country Code : 608
- Income Group : Lower middle income
- Lending Category : IBRD
- Region : East Asia & Pacific
- Currency Unit: Philippine peso
- WTO Member : Yes
- TradeThe buying and selling or exchange of goods and services. Th... organisations : APEC, ASEAN, WTO, EAS, AFTA, ADB, and others
- world rank : 70
- Regional Ranking : 14th in the Asia–Pacific Region