Philippines sees Q2 GDP 0.1 pct down to 0.9 pct up y/y

MANILA, Aug 20 - Philippine economic output in the second quarter likely came in between a 0.1 percent contraction and 0.9 percent growth year-on-year, the government said on Thursday.

The forecast by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) comes one week ahead of the official anouncement of GDP data.

Dennis Arroyo, a senior official at NEDA, told reporters that the agriculture and fisheries sector likely grew 0.44-1.4 percent annually in the second quarter, while services grew 1.7-2.2 percent. The forecast for the industries sector varied from a contraction of 2.9 percent to expansion of 1.3 percent, he said.

He however said the government was maintaining full-year growth projections at 0.8-1.8 percent.

In a July poll, analysts had predicted Q2 growth at a median of 1.0 percent year-on-year.

The economy grew by an annual 0.4 percent in the first quarter, the weakest annual growth since 1998. ($1 = 48.5 pesos)