MANILA: A major earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan dampened Philippine economic growth in the first quarter but the economy is still expected to hit its target for 2014, officials said.

The country’s gross domestic product expanded 5.7 percent in the first quarter, down from 7.7 percent for the same period last year and 6.3 percent in the last quarter of 2013, according to the government statistics agency.

Despite the disasters which occurred late last year, the economy was the third fastest growing in Asia in the first quarter, behind China’s 7.4 percent and Malaysia’s 6.2 percent, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

He said the economy’s performance indicates it will continue to expand in the succeeding quarters.

“We remain confident that we will meet the growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent for the full year of 2014,” he said.

The first quarter growth was driven mainly by the services and industry sectors, while agriculture reeled from the impact of the disasters, Balisacan said, citing the millions of coconut trees and other permanent crops felled by Haiyan.

The National Statistics Coordination Board said services contributed 3.8 percentage points to the GDP growth figure, industry added 1.8 percentage points and agriculture only 0.1 percentage point.

The damage to agricultural output disrupted production and supplies, partly explaining the decline in food manufacturing, Balisacan said.