The Philippines remains well-positioned to hitting its growth target for 2022 after the third-quarter performance beat expectations despite the pain of worsening inflation, with one government official saying "confidence" in the Marcos administration may have beefed up economic activities.

The country's central bank is raising its interest rates to 5%, keeping its earlier pronouncement of matching the US Federal Reserve's aggressive stance against the spike in inflation.

China has locked down a major transportation hub in the south, as the country grapples with its largest nationwide Covid outbreak since April.