By Kosaku Narioka
The Philippine economy expanded in the final quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous three-month period, thanks to improvements in various sectors.
The country’s gross domestic product increased 5.6% in the October-December period, following a 6.0% expansion in the previous quarter, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Wednesday.
The reading surpassed the median forecast for a 5.4% expansion taken from a poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal.
Compared with the previous quarter, GDP rose 2.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Services-sector output, which includes trade of goods and generally accounts for more than half of the economy, rose 7.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the data showed. The industry sector, including manufacturing and construction, expanded 3.2%, while the agriculture sector grew 1.4%.
Some economists expect sluggish growth in 2024 due to the effects of interest-rate increases and a slower pace of government spending.
The country’s central bank has kept its policy rate unchanged at 6.50% after raising it at an off-cycle meeting in October. The consumer-price index in December rose 3.9% from a year earlier, compared with the central bank’s inflation target range of 2%-4% and a 4.1% increase in November.
Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]
Read the full article here
