Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippine economy grew by 6.8 percent in thefirst quarter of 2018, faster than the growth recorded in the same quarter of2017, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on May 10.

The Southeast Asian country has maintained an economic growth rate of6.5 percent or higher for 10 successive quarters.

With the growth, the Philippines remained one of the best performingeconomies in Asia in the first quarter of the year, but concerns over inflationpushed the central bank to lift interest rates.

The impressive growth rate, which tied it with China and was onlyeclipsed by Vietnam, was fueled by a surge of 13.6 percent in governmentspending under President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippine Government is carrying out a huge infrastructure developmentprogramme worth up to 180 billion USD with the aim of modernizing the country’stransport systems.

However, inflation is at a five-year high of 4.5 percent, beyond thetarget of 2-4 percent set by the central bank.

Right after the data were announced, the Philippine central bank raisedthe benchmark interest rate to 3.25 percent after it had been at a record lowof 3.0 percent since being reduced in June 2016.-VNA