The Philippine economy rebounded more strongly than expected in 2021 after a relaxation of Covid-19 rules fuelled consumer spending and got more people back to work, officials said Thursday as they forecast a return to pre-pandemic growth this year.
Gross domestic product expanded 5.6%, the statistics agency said, after a 9.6% slump the previous year — the worst since World War II — was fuelled by crippling lockdowns destroying millions of jobs and forcing people to stay home.
The latest reading beat the median forecast of 5.1% growth expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The surprising performance was driven by a pick-up in consumer spending and…