Q2 growth seen hitting 6% 

Second-quarter economic growth will likely hit the lower end of the government's full-year target economy due to continued increased consumption, a Cabinet official said in a report by Manila Times.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said he expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.0 percent for the April-June period, up from the 5.7 posted in the first three months of 2024 and within the 6.0- to 7.0-percent goal for the year.

"[I]ncreased household consumption, infrastructure projects and ramped up government consumption" will be the primary drivers, he added.

Underspending by the government has been blamed for the lower-than-expected first-quarter growth, which some analysts said could have hit 6.4 percent.

Government final consumption expenditure growth was just 1.9 percent for the period based on Philippine Statistics Authority data.

Earlier this month, International Workplace Group (IWG) country manager Lars Wittig told a Manila Times forum that the government would have to ramp up spending to achieve its growth targets.

He warned against depending on public-private partnership projects (PPPs) and said that "if they (the government) rely entirely on PPPs, then we're looking at some delays."

"They are underspending, and I can't stress it enough: they need to invest more and faster," he added.

"There's no reason for the government deficit to be declining as a percent of GDP as is the case right now," Wittig claimed.

"If they don't spend enough, that could be a reason why we might be surpassed by other nations in the region."

Recto, however, said the government remained confident that full-year GDP growth would at least hit 6.0 percent.

Finance Undersecretary Domini Velasquez said the country needs to grow by at least 6.1 percent every quarter for the rest of the year to attain this.