The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace in 17 years in the first quarter of this year, on the back of strong electronics exports, modest increases in government expenditure and consumption fuelled by election campaign spending.

Government economists said the country’s gross domestic product rose by 6.9 per cent from the same quarter last year, the highest rate since 1990 and surpassing many analysts’ who were predicting first-quarter growth of only 5.7 per cent, according to a Bloomberg survey. expectations. The economy grew by 5.5 per cent in the previous quarter.