The economy expanded at the rate of 5.7 percent in the first three months of the year in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP), slower than various analyst forecasts averaging 5.9 percent during the period but quicker than the adjusted but scaled-back growth of only 5.5 percent a quarter earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
Output growth averaging only 5.5 percent in the December quarter last year was seen accelerated to 5.8 percent in the quarter ended March this year, according to analysts at Moody's Analytics
The country' local output expansion, measured as the gross domestic product (GDP), is forecast to accelerate to 5.9 percent this year from last year's 5.6 percent, the sovereign credit watcher Standard and Poor's said in commentaries published at its website.
Banco De Oro Universal Bank (BDO Unibank) on Friday bared a new policy against financing the construction of new coal-fired power plants as a matter of course going forward.
Inflation, or the rate of change in prices, is projected to range around the 4 percent mark in the second quarter this year, according to experts such as those from the analytics arm of the credit watcher Moody's Investors Service.