The Philippine economy grew at a sizzling pace in the second quarter, topping expectations as a government-led construction boom and an extended rebound in the farm sector took some of the sting off a peso currency wallowing at 11-year lows.
The Southeast Asian nation is the second-fastest growing economy in Asia after China, though some analysts cautioned that activity could wane if foreign investors are scared off by President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs.
Gross domestic product rose 6.5 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the national statistics agency said on Thursday, picking up from the 6.4 per cent pace in the first quarter, and above the 6.2 per cent forecast in a Reuters poll.
Quarter-on-quarter growth at 1.7 per cent also topped the 1.6 per cent pace projected in a Reuters poll, and faster than the previous quarter's upwardly revised 1.3 per cent.
Household consumption grew at slightly faster annual pace of 5.9 per cent in the second quarter compared with 5.8 per cent in the first, while government spending jumped 7.1 per cent in a dramatic rise from the revised 0.1 per cent gain in the March quarter, reports Reuters.
