ALEXIE ANN ROSE UMADHAY ACT3-2

ECONOMY OF THE PHILIPPINES 2017

Driven by broad-based expansion in domestic demand, the Philippine economy continued to

perform strongly in the first half of 2017.GDP grew by 6.4% year on year in the first half of
2017, moderating from a 7.0% pace in the same period last year but in line with the average
6.3% annual expansion since 2010. The Philippines remains among the fastest growing
Southeast Asian economies this year.

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) As agriculture recovers and government spending picks up,
the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.5% in the 2nd quarter of 2017, recovering
from a slowdown for the past 3 quarters.

The Philippine economy grew faster to 6.5% in the 2nd quarter of 2017, an increase from the
6.4% growth during the 1st quarter of 2017, but still a decline from the 7% in the 2nd quarter of
2016, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday, August 17.

The country's agriculture sector grew 6.18% in the 2nd quarter of 2017, breaching the
Department of Agriculture's forecast of 5%.