MANILA, Philippines (PNA) - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the country’s economic growth is likely to exceed the government’s target this year despite the contraction of agriculture sector in the first nine months of the year. "We may stil go above the upper target," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga told reporters on Monday.
The government expects the economy, as measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), to grow between 5 percent and 6 percent for 2010.
GDP is the total value of final goods and services produced in the country.
He said that despite the contraction in agriculture, other sectors of the economy posted a "good results."
Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the agriculture sector slowed down by 2.62 percent in the first nine months of the year due to El Nino.
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) earlier reported that the economy was likely to slow down in the third quarter of the year as the country’s composite leading economic indicator (LEI) might grow at a pace not as remarkable as in the first two quarters of the year.
The NSCB said LEI recorded a negative 0.0371 from July to September compared with a revised negative 0.0902 in the second quarter.
The LEI serves as a basis for short-term forecasting of macroeconomic activity as it incorporates the behavior of indicators that consistently move upward or downward before the actual expansion or contraction of the economy.
The agency had reported that the economy grew by 7.9 percent in the first six months of the year compared with the 0.9 percent in the same period last year.
This was the highest semestral growth since 1998 when GDP grew 9.3 percent.
For 2011 to 2016, the government expects the economy to grow between 7 percent and 8 percent.
