Philippine economy in 'worrisome state' due to inflation, COVID surge

The Philippine economy is in a 'worrisome state' due to rising inflation, a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and slow vaccine rollout.

Inflation reached 4.5% in February, above the BSP's target range of 2-4%, mainly driven by food shortages and pork price increases.

The country reported a record-high 9,838 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing total cases to over 700,000 with active cases surpassing 100,000.

Moody's Analytics warns of further outbreaks due to the slow vaccine rollout, estimating that only enough vaccines for 1% of the population have been received so far.