THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has said the Philippine economy is likely to grow 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga told reporters that the agriculture and services sectors contributed to the growth in the January-March 2011 quarter.

In the first quarter of 2010, the economy grew by 7.3 percent.

The government expects the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), to grow between 7 percent and 8 percent this year and up to 2016. GDP refers to the total value of final goods and services produced in a country in a year.

Paderanga, however, said that the economic managers may review the country's economic target "after the end of the second quarter to see how we are doing."

"The (yearly) GDP targets may be easier to reach starting in 2012 since the effect of last year's elections spending would not be there," Paderanga added.

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said that the economy grew by 7.6 percent last year, a slight upward revision from an earlier announced 7.3 percent.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank earlier projected that GDP may grow 5 percent this year.

At the same time, Paderanga said inflation is still relatively low although it moved to the higher end of the range.

"It's still within target," he said.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that inflation in the first four months of 2011 reached 4.2 percent or within the government's projection of between 3 percent and 5 percent this year.