MANILA: Officials say the Philippine economy expanded 6 percent in the third quarter and forecast the same growth rate for the full year.
The main driver of the economy in the third quarter was service industries, which expanded 7.3 percent. That was the fastest pace since 2013.
Agriculture grew 0.4 percent compared with a decline of 2.6 percent a year earlier.
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Thursday the data is “an encouraging sign of a steadily growing economy” and makes “6 percent full-year growth very much likely with even better prospects for the last quarter.”
Second-quarter growth was revised to 5.8 percent from 5.6 percent.
