“Despite the deceleration of global growth, and with the backdrop of increasing uncertainty in the US and in the Eurozone, our second quarter growth was at a respectable 5.9%, beating market expectations and placing us at the upper end of our full year forecast. This brings our first semester growth to 6.1%, well beyond the 4.7% average gdp growth of the country in the last decade.

By type of expenditure, household and government consumption continued to expand by 5.7% and 5.9%, respectively. Public construction pushed growth in total construction to 9.2%. Exports of goods grew by 7.9%, while exports of services grew by 9.9%, driving total exports to grow by 8.3%.

We continue to work hard to ensure that we sustain this level of growth. We will continue to invest in the necessary infrastructure to boost investments, especially in agriculture, tourism, and bpos. We will continue to align policies and rationalize processes to reduce the cost of doing business. We will continue to provide support to further the diversification of our exports. With the government’s focus on the fundamentals, and the private sector’s optimism, we are confident that we will be able to continue expanding the economy.”