Philippine Q1 economic growth reaches 6.9 pct

The Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the year reached 6.9 percent, exceeding average consensus forecast of 6.6 percent, the country's socioeconomic planning secretary said Thursday.

Emmanuel Esguerra, also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority, said in a press conference that the first-quarter performance of the economy increases the likelihood of achieving the official GDP projection of 6.8 to 7.8 percent for full-year 2016, despite the weak agriculture and fishery sector.

Esguerra attributed the strong growth to increasing investment and construction, as well as gains in the industry and service sectors.

He pointed out that the external demand weakened, with growth of exports of goods and services slowing down to 6.6 percent.

In addition, the agriculture sector remains a poor performer. For the first quarter of 2016, the agriculture sector contracted by 4.4 percent, coming from almost stagnation the past year.

Esguerra said the economic growth in the coming quarters is promising, but the government should be wary of the downside risks.

"In particular, the agriculture and fishery sector will continue to reel from the lingering impacts of El Nino though the transition to a normal weather condition is already happening. We should also start preparing for the La Nina which now has a 75 percent probability of occurrence," said Esguerra. Enditem