MANILA, Philippines—High inflation seen persisting throughout 2021 and vaccine hesitancy may slow the Philippines’ economic recovery, but the government is still confident that the rebound from the pandemic-induced recession is just around the corner.
In an economic bulletin on Monday (June 28), Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, also the Department of Finance’s chief economist, noted that the 20.7-percent growth in total external merchandise trade during the first four months to $57.83 billion, which was only 1.3-percent below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
“Year-to-date export value is 5.1-percent greater than its pre-pandemic level while import value is 5.2-percent lower,” Belt…
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