With the Philippines’ GDP faring better than expected in 2012, experts remain optimistic about the country’s economy for this year and the next. 

“We maintain our view that the Philippines will experience solid growth in 2013 and 2014. A sovereign upgrade to investment grade could come earlier than our prediction of 2014 if infrastructure and investment growth outperform expectations,” Standard Chartered research analysts Jeff Ng and David Mann said in an interview published in Malaya. 

Findings of the latest research report from analysts at the banking giant are also described as in contrast with the “more subdued international sentiment over the past year.”

“We noted little fear that the economic growth momentum seen in 2012 would fade in 2013. Some, particularly those with longer memories, did voice healthy skepticism about these high expectations. The construction sector is booming as new businesses develop. There is, however, still much more to be done on the infrastructure development and investment fronts,” Ng and Mann added. 

The Standard Chartered report also mentioned that businesses in the country continue to do well and that 24-hour food and retail establishments have been multiplying “alongside increasingly value-added business-process-outsourcing (BPO) companies.”

The report added that there is also “widespread adoption of technology, such as electronic non-bank overseas workers’ remittance inflows.”