Economic growth this year will remain strong despite the impact of an ongoing El Niño, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Friday.

Initial estimates point to a 0.9-percentage point hit for the first quarter and this has already been factored into the downwardly-revised 6.0-7.0 percent growth target for 2019, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia told reporters in a briefing.