Finance secretary Ralph Recto expects the country’s second quarter economic growth to be faster than the expansion in the first three months of the year.
“We’re pretty optimistic. It will be higher than the first,” Recto told reporters.
In the first quarter, the economy posted a year-on-year growth of 5.7 percent.
This falls below the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s growth assumption of six to seven percent for 2024.
“I’m crossing my fingers (that it will be higher than six percent.) But it will be higher than the first quarter,” Recto said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is set to announce the second quarter growth figures on August 8.
Recto said that the growth performance in the second quarter was likely driven by consumption, lower inflation and government spending.
In the second quarter of the previous year, the economy posted an increase of 4.3 percent.
