Philippine Q2 growth hits 7.0% year on year, above forecasts

[DAVAO CITY, Philippines] Philippine annual economic growth in the second quarter picked up to 7.0 per cent from 6.8 per cent in January-March, the government announced on Thursday.

The pace is the fastest for a quarter in three years.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy would expand an annual 6.7 per cent in the latest quarter.

Growth for April-June on a quarterly basis will be released later. The poll's median for that was 1.8 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent in the first quarter.

REUTERS