MANILA - Global economic expansion is seen at a better position this year with growth faster than 2014, the World Bank Group's (WBG) Global Economic Prospects reported yesterday.

In its GEP 2015, WBG projects global growth for this year at 3.0 percent from 2.6 percent in 2014 and 2.5 percent in 2013.

Average global economic growth from 2015 to 2017 is seen at 3.3 percent.

In particular, the WBG sees the Philippines will exhibit fastest GDP growth among the ASEAN-6.

WBG’s GDP outlook for the Philippines is at 6.5 percent in 2015 and 2016 and slightly slowing down at 6.3 percent in 2017. Average GDP growth for three years is at 6.4 percent.

Still, the Philippines average GDP growth for three years is highest compared to Indonesia’s 5.4 percent average growth; Malaysia’s 5.0 percent; and Thailand’s 4.5 percent.

The WBG attributed the better global growth for this year to soft commodity prices and persisting low interest rates.

“The sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2014 will support global activity and help offset some of the headwinds to growth in oil-importing developing economies,” the WBG said.

“However, it will dampen growth prospects for oil-exporting countries, with significant regional repercussions,” it said.

The WBG’s projection showed that economy of high-income countries will grow by 2.2 percent in 2015; 2.4 percent in 2016; and 2.2 percent in 2017.

Its forecast for developing countries are at 4.8 percent in 2015; 5.3 percent in 2016; and 5.4 percent in 2017.

"In this uncertain economic environment, developing countries need to judiciously deploy their resources to support social programs with a laser-like focus on the poor and undertake structural reforms that invest in people," said WBG President Jim Yong Kim.

"It’s also critical for countries to remove any unnecessary roadblocks for private sector investment. The private sector is by far the greatest source of jobs and that can lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," he said.

Moreover, the Report showed that East Asia and Pacific countries, which the Philippines belongs, will exhibit fastest gross domestic product (GDP) growth among regions at 6.7 percent in 2015.

The region’s GDP will remain at 6.7 percent until 2017, according to the WBG.*PNA

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