Philippines: economy grew 7.9 percent in 2Q

MANILA, Philippines

Election spending, rebounding exports and a recovering global economy boosted the Philippine economy to 7.9 percent growth in the second quarter, officials said Thursday.

It was the first time since 2004 that the economy had grown more than 7 percent in two consecutive quarters. Gross domestic product expanded a revised 7.8 percent from the year before in the first quarter.

"The Philippine economy remained strong along with the robust growth momentum in the Southeast Asian region and other Asian economies," Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga said.

Growth for the full year should be toward the upper end of the 5 percent to 6 percent forecast or higher than that, he said.

All the industrial sub-sectors performed better, with mining up by 36.3 percent and manufacturing expanding by 12.4 percent after a contraction of 7.4 percent a year earlier.

Spending related to the May national elections, which were largely peaceful, also contributed to second quarter growth, said Romulo Virola, Secretary General of the National Statistical Coordination Board.

Exports soared 27.4 percent, the highest since the third quarter of 1986. Services climbed by 6.4 percent and contributed 3.2 percentage points to the GDP growth, the government figures showed.

Paderanga said farm production continued to shrink during the quarter due a dry spell hitting major crops like rice and corn. Agriculture is expected to remain sluggish in the second half of the year, he said.