{"id":132739,"date":"2023-05-18T05:31:03","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T05:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=132739"},"modified":"2023-05-18T05:31:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T05:31:03","slug":"philippine-economic-growth-moderates-in-q1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/philippine-economic-growth-moderates-in-q1\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippine Economic Growth Moderates In Q1"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Philippine economy<\/span> expanded at a slower pace in the first quarter but remained strong on investment and household spending.<\/p>\n Gross domestic product registered a slower growth of 6.4 percent after rising 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday. <\/p>\n The latest rate was the weakest in the current sequence of growth that began in the second quarter of 2021 and also faster than the expected expansion of 6.1 percent. <\/p>\n Quarter-on-quarter, the economy logged a faster than expected growth of 1.1 percent in the first quarter. GDP was forecast to climb 0.9 percent.<\/p>\n On the demand side, household spending increased 6.3 percent annually, but weaker than the 7.0 percent rise a quarter ago. Meanwhile, growth in government consumption accelerated to 6.2 percent from 3.3 percent. <\/p>\n Gross capital formation logged a double-digit increase of 12.2 percent, following a 3.8 percent rise. <\/p>\n Exports of goods and services grew only 0.4 percent after a strong 14.6 percent increase. The growth in imports of goods and services slowed to 4.2 percent from 7.0 percent. <\/p>\n ING economist Nicholas Mapa expects GDP to remain in expansion mode for the rest of the year, although the economy is bracing for a likely slowdown as the triple threat of high inflation, elevated borrowing costs and rising debt levels weigh on momentum.<\/p>\n With inflation on the downtrend and growth showing signs of slowing, this will open the door for the central bank to pause and keep policy rates at 6.25 percent. <\/p>\n