By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, Sept. 8 (PNA) — The Philippines is expected to continue its higher trajectory of growth in the third quarter on the back of surging government spending and recovery in exports, according to economists of First Metro Investments Corp. and University of Asia and the Pacific (FMIC-UA&P).
“Exports growth should move back to positive territory in second half as the US economy continues to make many small steps forward while the Eurozone has shown surprising gains in second quarter,” they said in a joint issue of the Market Call.
Philippine exports fell for the third consecutive month despite the recovery of the electronics sector in June 2015 amid weak external demand.
FMIC and the UA&P also cited the seasonally adjusted annualized data that still showed gains of 1.7 million jobs.
“This, together with accelerating government spending, especially for infrastructure projects, should support a higher trajectory for growth starting third quarter,” they said.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.6 percent in the second quarter in 2015 from previous quarter’s 5 percent, as the government accelerated its infrastructure spending. (PNA)