The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has maintained the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimates for the second quarter to 6.4 percent.
This despite some upward revision in the growth of Net Primary Income (NPI) from the rest of the world that saw a revision in the second-quarter gross national income (GNI) growth this year.
The PSA said GNI growth was revised upward by 0.2 percentage points to 7.5 percent from the initial estimate of 7.3 percent.
This was due to the revision of the NPI to 13.8 percent from the initial estimate of 12.7 percent. “It’s just about the availability of information. Data on growth is not always 100 percent. Some of these are just estimates,” National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan explained on Wednesday.
The PSA reported that the economy grew 6.4 percent in the second quarter and 6 percent in the January-to-June period.
While the growth was higher than the 5.7-percent posted in the first quarter, the second-quarter growth was lower than the 7.9 percent posted in second quarter and also below the government’s 6.5-percent to 7.5- percent full-year target this year.
The PSA said the second-quarter economic growth was driven by the industry sector which posted a 7.8-percent expansion. This was slower than the 10.5-percent growth posted in the same period in 2013 but higher than the 5.3 percent in the first quarter this year.
The industry sector’s growth was higher than that of the services sector which only posted a growth of 6 percent in the April-to- June period this year.
This was not the first time the industry sector’s growth outpaced that of the services sector. Prior to the first quarter this year, the industry sector continually outpaced the growth of the services sector for four consecutive quarters. The country’s official GDP estimates for the third quarter this year will be released today, November 27.