PH Q2 economic growth 5.6%

GROWTH in the Philippine economy gained pace in the second quarter to 5.6 percent from a revised 5.0 percent in the first quarter, but lagged far behind the 6.4 percent expansion recorded for the second quarter of last year, official figures released Thursday show.

The latest growth rate also hit the low end of forecasts ranging from 5.6 percent to 6.8 percent made by  economists from private banks polled by The Manila Times prior to the release of the data.