MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine economy grew 5.2% in the third quarter from a year earlier, the statistics agency said on Thursday, coming in below forecasts and slowing from the annual pace in the previous quarter.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 5.7% from a year earlier. Growth in the second quarter was revised up to 6.4%.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP grew 1.7% in July-September, compared with economists’ expectations for a 1.5% rise and the prior quarter’s 0.5% increase.
The Philippine government is targeting growth of 6.0% to 7.0% this year.