The Philippine economy expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in the September quarter from the previous three months, weaker than expected, raising questions on whether the central bank will keep interest rates steady, as it recently indicated, at a policy meeting on Thursday.

Annual growth in the third quarter was 3.2 percent, the economic planning agency said on Monday, lower than the market forecast of 4.3 percent, and slowing from annual growth of 3.4 percent in the April to June period.