The Philippine government will continue to work to expand the Philippine economy and sustain the growth it posted for Q1 of this year.

In a statement published in the Philippine broadsheet Manila Bulletin and posted on Yahoo! News, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said that the administration of President Noynoy Aquino will work to sustain the level of growth achieved this first quarter by continuing the investments made to build the necessary infrastructure that will support the growth of investments particularly in the business process outsourcing (BPO), tourism, and agriculture sectors.

The Finance Secretary further said in the press statement that the government “will continue to align policies and rationalize processes to reduce the cost of doing business.”

Purisima added that the country’s “second quarter growth was at a respectable 5.9 percent.” The figure beat market expectations, according to the Finance chief, and placed the country at the upper end of the full year forecast. “This brings our first semester growth to 6.1 percent, well beyond the 4.7 percent average GDP growth of the country in the last decade.”

According to Purisima the country showed economic growth from January to June even as global growth decelerated amid the economic uncertainties in the United States and in the Eurozone.

Also in the first quarter of 2012, total construction, boosted by the growth of public construction, grew to 9.2 percent; exports, on the other hand, posted 7.9 % growth; and export of services posted 9.9 % growth.

The Finance Secretary said, “With the government’s focus on the fundamentals, and the private sector’s optimism, we are confident that we will be able to continue expanding the economy.”