Economic Growth in the Philippines Exceeds 6% for Eighth Quarter

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines’ economy grew faster than 6 percent for an eighth consecutive quarter, underscoring the nation’s resilience as domestic and global challenges mount.

Key Points

• Gross domestic product increased 6.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in Manila Thursday, after expanding 6.4 percent in the first quarter
• The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 6.4 percent

Big Picture

The Philippines, already one of the world’s fastest-expanding economies, is being buoyed by strong domestic demand and President Rodrigo Duterte’s planned spending on roads, railways and ports. The International Monetary Fund sees the Southeast Asian nation’s economy growing about 6.8 percent over the medium term.

Risks are mounting though. A surge in imports may see the nation post its first current-account deficit in 15 years, while the peso has slumped to an 11-year low. The government is also fighting a political insurgency in the restive Muslim-majority south, putting pressure on the budget and adding to investor uncertainty.

Other Details

• Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of GDP, gained 5.9 percent from a year earlier
• Government spending rose 7.1 percent

--With assistance from Clarissa Batino Norman P. Aquino and Ditas Lopez

To contact the reporters on this story: Siegfrid Alegado in Manila at aalegado1@bloomberg.net, Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net.