Philippines Defies Asia Slowdown With Best Growth Since 2010
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Philippine growth unexpectedly accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three years, defying a regional slowdown as President Benigno Aquino boosted investment and state spending. The peso reversed its decline.
Gross domestic product rose 7.8 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, compared with a revised 7.1 percent gain in the previous quarter, the National Statistical Coordination Board said in Manila today. The figure beat all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of 22 economists, whose median was 6 percent.