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From 7.1% in 2016 , economic expansion was down by a percentage point to 6.1% in 2019, according to official data. In the interim years, growth eased to 6.9% in 2017 and 6.3% in 2018.
The government pointed to slow growth in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and the residual impact of a nearly three-decade slowdown in the Chinese economy
The year 2019 turned out slower as economic output - measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) or the sum of goods and services produced at a given period - grew at a weaker pace, pulled down by low infrastructure spending amid budget issues.
“Infrastructure development has been the focus of the Duterte administration since it started,” the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) economic research team told CNN Philippines. “However, the Build, Build, Build program hit a roadblock in 2019 amid the budget impasse in Congress, thereby delaying the implementation of projects."