FIRST QUARTER
Amid recovery in the agriculture sector, robust trade and manufacturing growth as well as sustained strong domestic demand, the Philippine economy expanded 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the government reported Thursday.
The figure, however, was below previous forecasts of economic managers placing it 6.9-7 percent.
The first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was slower than the 6.6-percent expansion during the fourth quarter of last year.
It was also slower than the 6.9 percent posted in the first quarter of 2016, during which economic growth was boosted by election-related spending.
For 2017, the government targets 6.5-7.5 percent GDP growth, following last year’s 6.9-percent expansion.
Meanwhile, the local stock barometer slipped on Thursday on rising US political jitters and slower-than-expected first quarter domestic economic growth rate alongside the liquidity-siphoning effect of two local initial public offerings in the market.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 68.84 points or 0.88 percent to close at 7,757.69, tracking the sell-off across US and regional markets.
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