Gross domestic product growth in the first quarter likely settled between 6 percent and 6.3 percent, slower than the actual 6.8-percent expansion a year ago, amid the sluggish growth in government spending, ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said Thursday.
“The good news is that revenues are rising faster than spending, resulting in a more moderate fiscal deficit. Core spending growth in March improved to a 7.1 percent YoY growth from a mild YoY contraction [-0.6 percent in February],” Cuyegkeng said in a statement.
He said core government spending growth was slow and would likely affect overall first-quarter GDP growth.
“The three months’ moving average growth rates for key fiscal categories also show the improvement in revenue generation and the slowdown in fiscal spending. The task to improve over last year’s performance is difficult when considering the high base on which this year’s spending would be compared,” he said.