There’s no stopping the Philippine economy, even with a new administration.

Philippine GDP grew year-on-year by 7 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, higher than the 5.9 per cent growth in the second quarter in 2015. Services, such as trade and real estate, drove this growth, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The recently released GDP figure is also higher than the previous semester’s growth of 6.9 per cent.

“The previous administration gave us a strong and stable economy that we can build on further by maintaining the sound macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary policies already in place,” said Ernesto Pernia, secretary for socio-economic planning.

“Over the medium term, the new administration is aiming still for a steady acceleration of growth toward 7 to 8 per cent. This will be supported by sustained and deepened reforms,” he said.

Pernia said planned tax reform, investment in infrastructure, easing of restrictions on foreign investment, reduction of the cost of doing business and strengthening of agro-industrial linkages will all contribute to ongoing growth.

While services expanded by 8.4 per cent, agriculture declined by 2.1 per cent – a further drop compared with its 0.1 per cent decline in the same period in 2015.

With the country’s projected population reaching 103 million in the second quarter of 2016, per capita GDP grew by 5.2 per cent. This is higher than the growth of 4.2 per cent in 2015.