Philippines third-quarter GDP grows 6.9％ year-on-year, above forecast

The Philippine economy grew by a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, supported by strong industrial output and services, the statistics agency said on Thursday.

Economists in a Reuters poll had forecast annual growth of 6.5 percent in the July-September period, compared with the second quarter’s upwardly revised 6.7 percent pace.

Growth for the September quarter on a quarterly basis will be released later. Economists had predicted growth would cool slightly to 1.6 percent from the April-June period, after the second quarter’s 1.7 percent growth.

(REUTERS)