The quarterly increase lifted full-year economic growth to 2.73 percent for last year, also beating an estimated 2.64 percent increase, the agency said. The yearly growth outpaced main trade rivals Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the DGBAS said. The seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rate was 6.96 percent, suggesting that economic expansion is gaining momentum, compared with 2.42 percent three months earlier, it said. Capital formation in the public and private sectors was the main catalyst with 10.72 percent growth, lifting GDP growth by 2.34 percentage points during the fourth quarter, the agency said. DOMESTIC DEMANDDomestic demand boosted economic growth last quarter by adding 4.09 percentage points, while net external demand erased 0.71 percentage points, it said.
