MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy grew 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2014, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) announced in a press conference Thursday.
The first quarter growth of 2014 is lower compared to the 7.7 growth in the first quarter of 2013 and the 6.3 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The Philippines lost its rank as Southeast Asia’s best performer to Malaysia, which grew by 6.2 percent in the first quarter. China’s economy rose by 7.4 percent in the same period.
“Despite this, Philippines is third fastest growing in the region behind China and Malaysia,” Arsenio Balisacan, Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning, said.
“The relatively slow growth is expected given the magnitude of destruction by typhoon “Yolanda” to agriculture,” he said.
The agriculture sector grew 0.9 percent, a sharp contrast to its growth in the first quarter of 2013, when it grew 3.2 percent. The industry sector grew 5.5 percent, while the services sector had the highest growth at 6.8 percent.
Analysts and economists polled by the Philippine Daily Inquirer this week showed most expected growth slowed in the first quarter due to high base effects and the lingering fallout from “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) last November.
The country’s first quarter growth was lower than all forecasts by analysts polled by the Inquirer.
Balisacan said he was confident that the growth will pick up in the succeeding quarters and that they will meet the expected growth target for the entire 2014.
“We have to grow faster than 6.5 percent to meet the target range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent for the entire 2014,” Balisacan said.
He added that they are paying close attention to the effects of the El Niño which is expected to hit the country in the third quarter of 2014.
MATIKAS SANTOS/INQUIRER.net
Originally posted: 10:16 am | Thursday, May 29th, 2014
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