The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 8.3% in the first quarter of 2022 from a contraction of 3.8% in the same period in 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) (Figure 1). The real GDP (at constant 2018 prices) in the first quarter of 2022 valued at P4.62 trillion has already exceeded the pre-pandemic GDP level of P4.46 trillion in the same period in 2019. The recorded GDP rate is well within the government’s full year growth target of 7 to 9 percent..
