The Philippine government expects the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow between 5.7 to 6.3 percent this year, higher than last year's 5.1 percent, local daily Manila Bulletin said on Sunday.

The country's agriculture is expected to grow by 4 percent, industry by 5.1 percent and services by 6.7 percent, Manila Bulletin quoted Dennis Arroyo, national planning and policy staff director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), as saying on Saturday.

Growth prospects for 2006 are bright as economic figures in 2005 indicate that the economy is in good shape, said Arroyo.

He said agriculture is expected to grow 4 percent in 2006 with higher area harvested and yield hectare, and with strong external demand of high value crops like banana, coconut, pineapple, mango, coffee and abaca.

The fishery sector is also hoped to sustain its 6 percent expansion due to good weather conditions and strong demand for seaweeds, he added.

He said the industry sector is expected to grow 5.1 percent, driven by upbeat interest in numerous mining projects and high mining prospects.

The industrial growth will also be supported by the expected positive growth of both domestic-oriented manufactures such as food, chemicals and rubber and export-oriented manufactures like textile, furniture and electrical machinery.

"The semiconductors exports growth is expected to be robust. Semiconductor industries are bullish for 2006, targeting an export growth of 10 percent," said Arroyo.

The country's GDP growth rate in 2005 stood at 5.1 percent, falling short of the 5.3 percent predicted by the government.

Source: Xinhua