Philippine economy grows 5.9% in second quarter

The Philippines said Thursday the economy grew a better-than-forecast 5.9 percent in the three months to June, largely due to a strong services sector.

And the government said the second-quarter figures -- which also saw growth in the first half at 6.1 percent after a strong 6.3 percent expansion in January-March -- would continue for the rest of 2012.

"The resilient services sector remained the main driver of growth," said Lina Castro, secretary general of the National Statistics Coordination Board.

Independent analysts had widely predicted 5.4 to 5.8 percent growth in the second quarter.

Castro said the services sector had accounted for 4.3 percentage points of the growth figure for the three-month period, while industry accounted for 1.5 percentage points and agriculture 0.1 points.

The figures led Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan to predict "we will be close to the upper end of the (5.0-6.0 percent) range", for the whole of 2012.

Cranes and container trucks are seen at the port of Manila on August 30. The Philippines said Thursday the economy grew a better-than-forecast 5.9 percent in the three months to June, largely due to a strong services sector

The momentum of growth "will not dissipate in the succeeding quarters", he told reporters.

He cited "accelerated government spending on infrastructure" for helping growth, as well as low inflation, improved exports, rising tourist arrivals and the continued remittances of about 10 million Filipino overseas workers.

A rash of storms and heavy rains that caused massive flooding in Manila and surrounding areas in recent months were unlikely to have a huge effect on the growth rate in 2012, Balisacan added.

"Their impact on agriculture was quite modest and their likely impact (on the whole economy) was also quite modest," he said.

But he warned that the economy faced challenges for the rest of the year stemming from the global economic slowdown and the expected return of the "El Nino" weather phenomenon.

Source: AFP News / http://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-economy-grows-5-9-second-quarter-034647633--finance.html

PH is now Asia's strongest-performing economy, says expert

This, as an expert claims Philippines is now the strongest-performing economy in Asia, thanks to improved exports even in a weak global environment.

"The strongest-performing economy in the Asia today is the Philippines," Michael Spencer, chief economist for Asia at Deutsche Bank AG, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.

Spencer notes the country has historically been identified as dependent on the economies of the United States and Europe, which both continue to face uncertainties.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.4 percent in the first quarter, with economists noting that this signaled a recovery from the sluggish 3.7 percent growth in 2011.

REUTERS - Traders throw confetti as they celebrate the last trading day of the year at the Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati, the financial district of Manila, in this December 29, 2011 file photo. Asia's top companies are less upbeat on their business outlook than in the first quarter, with mounting concern over the euro zone crisis and a slowdown in China's growth, according to the latest Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Survey, published on June 20, 2012. To match story ASIA-COMPANIES-SENTIMENT/ REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/Files (PHILIPPINES - Tags: BUSINESS)

This made the Philippines the second fastest-growing Asian economy, topped only by China at 8.1 percent.

"what's driving growth [in the Philippines] today is exports, surprisingly enough for them," Spencer said.

National Statistics Office (NSO) data show that total exports reach $26.8 million in the first half, up 7.68 percent from $24.8 million in the same period in 2011.

The country's export performance has been insulated from weak external demand, particularly from US and Europe, by increasing outbound shipments to Japan, Spencer said.

"I suspect that this has something to do with Japan outsourcing to the Philippines after the earthquake," he added.

Outbound shipments to Japan also grew by 11 percent to $4.77 billion in the first half from $4.29 billion a year ago.

Japan thus remained the Philippines' top market during the period, accounting for 17.8 percent of total exports.

Last year, Japan was also the Philippines' top product destination with $8.86 billion worth of exports or 18.5 percent of total exports.

It was followed by the US, with a 14.8 percent share; China, 12.7 percent; Hong Kong, 7.71 percent; and Singapore, 8.92 percent.

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Source: By Kim Arveen Patria | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom – Mon, Aug 13, 2012