MANILA – The Philippine economy grew 6.3% in the second quarter from a year earlier, driven by government spending and investment, the statistics agency said on Thursday, stronger than upwardly revised 5.8% growth in the first quarter.
That took first-half GDP growth to 6.0%, putting the economy on track to meet the full-year growth target of 6.0% to 7.0%, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told a news conference.
Inflation, which has hampered consumer spending, will revert to its longer-term downtrend, Mr. Balisacan said.
Economists in a Reuters poll had expected annual gross domestic product growth of 6.2% in the April-June quarter.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew 0.5%quarter-on-quarter, below both the 0.9% growth forecast in a Reuters poll and the 1.3% pace in the first quarter. — Reuters