Just seeing the government numbers… gives us a strong push towards the end of the year.

An economist on Monday disclosed the Philippines stands a “good chance” of meeting its growth target for 2019 on the back of strong consumption, government spending and looser monetary policy.

In a television interview, ING economist Nicholas Mapa disclosed that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) needs to grow at least 6.3 percent in the second half of the year to reach the lower end of the government’s six to seven percent target.

He explained that the GDP — which grew 5.5 percent in the second quarter — was the lowest in four years, partly due to the delayed passage of the 2019 budget that hit public spending.

“From the way they’ve been spending at least in September, it looks like they got a good chance of hitting their target. Just seeing the government numbers… gives us a strong push towards the end of the year,” Mapa said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ monetary policy adjustments can also help “reignite investment momentum,” according to Mapa, as the BSP cut the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points this year, bringing it to four percent.

The central bank may be “done” cutting policy rates this year, but a 50-basis point rate cut is expected in 2020, he said.

In August this year, the Philippine economic growth slowed further in the April to June period to its lowest in 17 quarters, dragged by the delay in the passage of the budget that hit state spending.

The GDP grew 5.5 percent in the second quarter, from 6.2 percent during the same period in 2018 and 5.6 percent in the previous quarter, compared with the median forecast of 5.9 percent in separate polls by Bloomberg and Reuters.

“The weak economic performance during the second quarter is the continuing effect of that delay in the passage of the 2019 budget, coupled with the election ban,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia Jr said in a previous interview.

“This growth slowdown serves as a challenge to all of us,” he added.

Growth would have been one percentage point higher in the second and first quarters of 2019 had spending been on track, according to Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Pernia noted that lawmakers should ensure the early passage of the 2020 budget, as well as the second tranche of tax reforms to ease investors’ worries.