People wearing mask and face shield walk at a market in Manila (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippine economy posted the fastestyear-on-year growth in more than three decades in the second quarters of 2021.
Gross domestic product (GDP)rose 11.8 percent from a year earlier, posting the biggestyear-on-year expansion since Q4 1988, as domestic demand improved, according tocountry’s the statistics agency.
Socio-economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua warned thathopes for the continuous positive growth could be erased by the currenttwo-week lockdown in the national capital region, which accounts for a third ofthe economy, and other areas aimed at slowing the spread of Delta variant.
The longer the enhanced community quarantine lasts,then the higher the risk that the Philippines may not achieve its target, hesaid.
The tightened restrictions, which include a ban onrestaurant dining and an eight-hour nighttime curfew, are expected to cost thePhilippine economy about 3 billion USD a week in lost output.
The number of COVID-19 infections in thePhilippines has exceeded 1.6 million, the second-highest caseload inSoutheast Asia. Only 10 percent of the population is fullyvaccinated./.
