The Philippines has now become the leader in economic growth in Southeast Asia, according to American financial services company Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

In a recent report, S&P said that continued economic growth in the Philippines has helped the country surpass Indonesia’s economic performance.

S&P Asia Pacific chief economist Paul Gruenwald added, in an interview with Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom’s Rio Rose Ribaya, that the Philippine GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to grow by about 7 % in 2013. After that, growth will be “moderating to 6 percent to 6.5 percent in 2014 and 2015.”

According to S&P, GDP growth for Indonesia is expected to hit 6.1%, for Vietnam, 5.3%, and for Malaysia, 5.3%.

The S&P report also projected 6.9% economic growth for the Philippines in 2013. This growth rate is faster than other economies in ASEAN.

Growth for the ASEAN economies as a whole is expected to remain at around 5.5 % through 2015.

In the same interview, Gruenwald added that the major economies in ASEAN will “continue to outperform. These economies are more domestically focused than the Newly Industrialized Economies. (They) tend to do better when global growth is sluggish.”