Key macroeconomic indicators point to a still healthy but slower expansion in the Philippine economy in the first quarter of 2015, compared with the fourth quarter of last year, thanks to robust domestic demand and higher government spending, particularly in infrastructure projects, Yahoo News quoted analysts as saying. In separate studies, Moody’s Analytics, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Accord Capital Equities Corp. put their estimates of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for January to March at between 6.4% and 7.3%, gaining momentum from a 5.6% increase a year earlier. Compared with the year-earlier rate of 6.9%, however, the Q1 estimated range’s low end shows a slowdown while the upper end shows the rate picking up speed. The government is scheduled to release the official first-quarter GDP data on May 28. Analysts from Moody’s Analytics were the most optimistic, saying GDP in the first three months likely expanded by 7.3%.
