The economy grew better than initially estimated in the second-quarter of the year, given the strong contributions of construction, real-estate, and manufacturing sectors.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday, Nov. 9, slightly raised upward its April to June economic growth, or gross domestic product (GDP), from 7.4 percent to 7.5 percent.
According to the PSA, the major contributors to the upward revision were construction, which was revised from 19 percent to 19.5 percent as well as real estate and ownership of dwellings from 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent.
Likewise, manufacturing growth was raised to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent.
The growth rate of Net Primary Income (NPI) from the Rest of the World also recorded an upward revision from 64.8 percent to 65.3 percent.
Despite the upward revisions of GDP and NPI, the growth rate of Gross National Income (GNI) in the second quarter was maintained at 9.3 percent.
The second-quarter revision brought the first semester GDP average at 7.85 percent, faster than the 4.15 percent recorded in the same period last year.
The end-September economic growth is also above the Marcos administration’s full-year target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
The PSA is scheduled to announce the country’s third-quarter economic performance on Thursday, Nov. 10.
Economists predict that the country’s growth likely slowed from July to September, given the weak consumer demand on the back of high inflation, monetary policy tightening, and the peso depreciation.