MANILA - The World Bank has upgraded its economic outlook for the Philippines this year to 5.3 percent, higher than its projection in September at 4.3 percent. The World Bank revised its growth upward after observing that the economy grew in the first three quarters of 2021 despite the reimposition of the most stringent community quarantine in late March and early August. "(M)obility restrictions are overtime having less impact on economic activities," World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand Ndiame Diop said in a virtual briefing Tuesday. Diop said in the first three quarters of the year, the Philippine economy grew by 4.9 percent from a 10.1-percent contraction in the same period in 2020. The World Bank's outlook for the country in 2022 and 2023 is higher at 5.8 percent. Economic growth for the next two years will be driven by consumption, infrastructure spending, vaccination, and revival of businesses, he added. However, Diop said a p