Let me begin with good news. Based on the recent Philippine Statistics Authority’s data, the country is officially out of the pandemic-induced recession. The economy grew by 11.8 percent in the second quarter of 2021. Likewise, inflation rate decelerated in July 2021 to 4.0 percent. This is the first time this year that the inflation rate returned within the 2-4 percent target band.
As of end-July 2021, the country’s gross international reserves stood at USD106.6 billion. Once again, remittances coming from overseas Filipino workers continues to provide strong support to the economy as money transfers coursed through banks grew by 13.1 percent to USD2.6 billion in June 2021 from a 2.4 billion in May 2021. Meanwhile, unemployment remained unchanged, at 7.7 percent in June 2021.