The Philippines is battling one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia and the tough restrictions that have been in place over the past year have caused gross domestic product to contract for five quarters, including a 4.2% drop in the first three months of 2021.
“The number of infections has remained elevated, which has led to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world,” says Sian Fenner, lead Asia economist at Oxford Economics. “It has really weighed on household spending in an economy that is driven by domestic demand rather than exports.”
