Philippine central bank governor Eli Remolona stated on Friday that the country's latest economic growth figures, while "not terrible," are still disappointing.

A slowdown in the construction industry and weak domestic demand caused the Philippine economy to expand by 2.3% year-on-year in the second quarter, marking the weakest growth pace since 2021.

"Therefore, considering both the economic growth data and inflation data, I believe we cannot let our guard down until there is a clearer downward trend in inflation," Remolona said, describing the economic performance as "somewhat unexpected."

"Growth is currently quite weak, which means we can take less aggressive measures to curb inflation," he added.

Due to the second-quarter performance, the Philippine economy grew at a rate of 2.6% in the first half of the year, falling short of the full-year target range of 3.5% to 4.5%.

The Philippine government has set a GDP growth target of 5.0% to 6.0% for the period from 2027 to 2030.

To curb inflation, the Philippine central bank raised its policy rate by 25 basis points in June. The bank is scheduled to hold its next monetary policy meeting on August 27.