MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy stayed in recession in the first quarter as expected, making official intuitions that what was one Southeast Asia’s fastest growing is set to crawl its way back to prosperity, no thanks to more infectious coronavirus variants and sluggish vaccinations. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 4.2% year-on-year from January to March, worse than the 0.7% contraction a year ago when the pandemic has just started, government statisticians reported on Tuesday. At the same time however, the data may reinforce criticisms of a bungled government pandemic response that still heavily resorts to lockdowns to control the virus. The pandemic may also be the single biggest drag to growth, but it is not doing that alone. Industry dropped a larger 4.7% year-on-year, followed by services, home to the Philippines' booming outsourcing sector, that slipped 4.4%.

Source: Philippine Star May 11, 2021 02:03 UTC