MANILA (REUTERS) - The Philippine economy grew slightly faster in the fourth quarter of last year, but the pace lagged market expectations in the face of weak exports, the statistics agency said on Thursday (Jan 24).

Annual growth in the fourth quarter was 6.1 per cent, picking up slightly from the previous quarter's downwardly revised 6.0 per cent expansion but less than the 6.2 per cent forecast in a Reuters poll.

The fourth-quarter pace took full-year 2018 growth to 6.2 per cent, below the government's downwardly revised target of 6.5-6.9 per cent, and the slowest rate of expansion in three years.

For 2017, the government reported growth of 6.7 per cent.