Philippine Q2 growth slowest in 12 years
The Philippine economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly 12 years in the second quarter as high inflation and interest rates hurt consumer demand, reducing pressure on the central bank to tighten monetary policy further. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 4.3 percent in the April-June quarter from the same period last year, the weakest growth since 2011, official data on Thursday showed, and much lower than the 6 percent expansion forecast in a Reuters poll. A contraction in government spending after last year's election-driven increase also dragged down GDP growth, which lost further momentum after the previous quarter's 6.4 percent pace and the December quarter's 7.1 percent growth rate. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economic picture looked more dim, with GDP contracting 0.9 percent in the second quarter, the first decline in 12 quarters. That compared with the downwardly revised 1 percent expansion in the March quarter and 0.5 percent growth forecast of economists. The country's economic ministers blamed high borrowing costs and commodity prices for the lacklustre growth, which they said outweighed the impact of tourism spending and investments. Growth in the June quarter brought first half expansion to 5.3 percent, below the government's 6-7 percent target for the year. But Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the full-year target was still attainable. (Reuters)