The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has revised downward its estimates for the country’s third- quarter economic growth.
On Wednesday the PSA said the country’s GDP in the third quarter grew 7 percent, instead of the initial estimate of 7.1 percent.
“The top 3 contributors to the revision were Financial Intermediation, Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities, and Agriculture and Forestry,” the PSA said.
With the revisions, the PSA said the gross national income and net primary income from the rest of the world were, likewise, revised to 6.2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
These, the PSA said, are lower than the corresponding preliminary growths of 6.3 percent and 2.5 percent.
“The PSA revises the GDP estimates based on an approved revision policy, which is consistent with international standard practices on national accounts revisions,” the PSA said.
The revised estimate showed that third-quarter growth was on a par with the second-quarter economic performance and higher than the 6.2-percent growth posted in the third quarter of 2015.
Still the fastest in Asia
Even with the downward revision, the Philippines remains the fastest-growing economy among Asia’s emerging countries in the third quarter.
The country grew faster than China, which posted a growth of 6.7 percent; Vietnam, 6.4 percent; Indonesia, 5 percent; and Malaysia, 4.3 percent.
Waiting for Q4 results
Earlier, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the economy could exceed its growth targets this year if fourth- quarter performance will be higher than expected.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said exceeding a growth of 7 percent will depend on the fourth quarter.
Pernia said if the economy grows between 7.2 percent and 7.3 percent in the October-to-December period, exceeding the 6.5-percent to 7-percent target for the year is possible.
The country’s growth outlook for 2017 is 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent and annually between 2018 and 2022, 7 percent to 8 percent.