Philippines Q1 GDP grows 6.4% y-o-y, slowest in 1-1/2 years

[MANILA] The Philippine economy expanded 6.4 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago, the slowest pace in 1-1/2 years and below market expectations, data from the statistics agency's website showed as of 0131 GMT.

The government is scheduled to officially release the first-quarter gross domestic product data at 10am (0200 GMT) on Thursday. The data uploaded on the website of the Philippine Statistics Authority was dated May 16.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy would expand at an annual 6.8 per cent compared with 6.6 per cent in the last three months of 2016.

The latest growth number matches the 6.4 per cent pace in the third quarter of 2015.

REUTERS