The Asia Pacific Investment Quarterly Q3 2017

The global property firm, Savills, recently released the  Asia Pacific Investment Quarterly for the third quarter of 2017. It contains significant updates on the investment situations and real estate market forecasts in the Asia Pacific region.

"The Philippine's growth story continues as it registered GDP growth of 6.5% in Q2/2017. This is backed by the sustained expansion in household consumption and investment. Government spending rebounded to 7.1% from the flat growth in Q1/2017. We expect fiscal spending to continue its pace in the coming quarters, but concerns have risen over the sustainability of the administration's fiscal stimulus."

"The Duterte government's tax reform program entitled, "Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion" (TRAIN), stalled in the Senate, as legislators try to protect the value added tax (VAT) exemptions for certain sectors while watering down the new excise taxes. The initial package of TRAIN consists of cutting the personal income tax (PIT) rate while expanding the VAT base and introducing excise taxes on automobiles, petroleum and sugar. The incremental yield of the proposal is estimated to hit PHP157.2 billion, but the Senate's version is forecasted to dilute this to a third of the said amount." 

To read the full report, click here .