MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The
Philippine economy From Philippine economy’s 5.6 percent in the first quarter
has expanded by 6.4 percent in the second quarter. This increase tied with
Malaysia as the second fastest growing in Asia during the period, officials
said.
"This higher growth rate, coming from a high
base a year ago shows that the economy is back on the higher trajectory,"
said Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
The resulted growth in the first quarter was
slammed by major calamities happened in the country last year.
"Overall we see that the country still has a
strong likelihood of achieving the full year growth target of 6.5 to 7.5
percent," Balisacan said. Based on the surveys, Philippines economy will
continue to grow.
Balisacan pointed out that agriculture rebounded
from its 0.2 percent contraction in the second quarter of 2013, posting 3.6
percent growth in the same period this year.
Balisacan said that with the weak performance of
construction, this has moderated the Industry's 7.8 percent growth,
particularly public construction, whose decline resulted from lower spending
for infrastructure and capital outlays.
The government is concentrating to the
"administrative bottlenecks," citing an almost 45 percent increase in
disbursements in June, he added.
