The Philippine economy rebounded stronger than expected in 2021 after a relaxation of COVID-19 restriction fueled consumer spending and attracted more people back to work.
A street in Manila, the Philippines - Illustrative image (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippine economy rebounded stronger than expected in 2021 after a relaxation of COVID-19 restriction fueled consumer spending and attracted more people back to work.
The Southeast Asian country’s economy is expected to regain its pre-pandemic growth in 2022.
The Philippine statistics agency said the country’s GDP expanded 5.6 percent in 2021 following a 9.6 percent slump in 2020 due to the pandemic.
This surprising result was driven by an increase in consumer spending and construction in the second half of 2021 as restrictions eased and the number of COVID-19 infections fell.
Speaking at a virtual press conference, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary of the Philippines Karl Chua said the door to the country's economic recovery is now fully open.
He added that a change in the Philippine government's response to COVID-19 from widespread lockdowns to more granular measures, including increased vaccination and treatment capacity, had created favourable conditions for stronger economic activity.
🌳 The country’s efforts to safely reopen the economy allowed more Filipinos to work and earn their income, he said./.
The Philippines has banned firecrackers to avoid injuries and deaths during the New Year revelry to welcome 2022, a government official said on December 29.
The Philippine House of Representatives has gone into lockdown to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus while Indonesia has reportedly prepared 120,000 hospital beds to cope with outbreaks caused by this new variant.
Aid officials in the Philippines have warned of a health crisis as millions of people in the country are struggling to secure clean water and food in areas wrecked by a typhoon last month.
Philippine Secretary of Energy Alfonso Cusi has appealed to Indonesia to lift its coal export ban, saying the policy will be detrimental to economies heavily reliant on the fuel for power generation, Reuters reported.
The Philippines on January 17 logged 37,070 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths from the disease, bringing the respective figures to 3,242,374 and 52,929.
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The tax adjustment supports the Malaysian Government’s strategy to reduce reliance on foreign food supply chains and to assist domestic farmers, a finance official has said.
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Two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
In the today context of socio-economic development and growth, the professionalism of Vietnam’s revolutionary journalists continues to rise, guided by exemplary mastery of new information technologies and the modernisation of their founding principles to preserve the enduring values of revolutionary journalism.
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Organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Thai Silk & Culture Promotions, the event honors Her Majesty the Queen on her 47th birthday anniversary and promotes Thai craftsmanship on an international stage.
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This follows Telegram’s serious failure to address the content that has been repeatedly reported to them, despite various efforts of negotiation and cooperation made by MCMC, it said.
Efforts to empower women must transcend dialogue and translate into concrete commitments, including corporate pledges and government partnerships, according to the spouse of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
A street in Manila, the Philippines - Illustrative image (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) 
