The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in March this year from the peak of 17.6 percent in April 2020. Foreign direct investments soared to an all-time-high of 10.5 billion US dollars last year. In the first two months of this year, FDIs jumped by 8.0 percent to 1.7 billion US dollars. This underscores investor confidence in the Philippines’ long-term growth prospects.
All these came on the back of a whole-of-government approach to pandemic recovery. Complementing the national government’s recovery efforts, the central bank implemented its own COVID-response measures. We ensured adequate liquidity in the financial system and helped bolster domestic economic activity. Through our various response measures, the central bank has injected approximately 41.9 billion US dollars into the financial system.