Economy

by ABS-CBN News, 19 Aug 2021 MANILA – The Philippines’ largest business group appealed to the country’s pandemic management task force to stop resorting to lockdowns to check the spread of COVID-19.

President Duterte’s economic managers have lowered the country’s economic growth targets, taking into account the impact of the mobility restrictions imposed in different parts of the country meant to prevent the spread of COVID19.

by Cielito F. Habito, 17 Aug 2021 There was misplaced jubilation over the 11.8 percent second quarter increase in our GDP that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently announced, as it gave the wrong impression that the Philippine economy is now out of recession. Unfortunately, it is not. As others have already pointed out, including…

By Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, 16 Aug 2021 Despite exiting five straight quarters of economic contraction, the Philippines is not yet out of the woods as rising COVID-19 cases may prompt the government to extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila beyond Aug. 20, according to economists.

by Elijah Felice Rosales (The Philippine Star), 16 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) expects the third quarter economic performance to take a hit from the revert to lockdown in select areas.

by Solita Collas-Monsod, 14 Aug 2021 Is the 11.8 percent growth of GDP in the second quarter of 2021 an indication that the Duterte administration has managed the COVID-19 situation really well, and has achieved the correct balance between lives and livelihood? Because that’s what Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua would have us believe. The…

By Roy Stephen C. Canivel, 14 Aug 2021 The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) objected to a suggestion of the Department of Health (DOH) to impose a five-week lockdown in a bid to drastically reduce the number of active COVID-19 cases.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 14 Aug 2021 Philippine job displacement worst in ASEAN MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should work doubletime in bringing back jobs to avoid long-term scars from the pandemic, especially as the country recorded the largest working-hour losses in Southeast Asia.

by Ramon Royandoyan (Philstar.com) – 12 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained its historic-low policy rate, keeping monetary support to the economy amid the coronavirus onslaught.

(The Philippine Star), 12 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos will face difficulty seeking work until 2022 despite the gains made in recovering jobs lost last year, forcing the Department of Finance (DOF) to push for the distribution of cash aid to the poorest families.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 12 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Consumption will remain subdued for the rest of 2021 as mobility curbs affect spending and drag expectations for a strong economic growth for the year, an international think tank said.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 2 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Global financial institutions were not impressed by the strong rebound in the country’s economic output in the second quarter, noting that downside risks persist that could hinder a further recovery.

by Ben O. de Vera, 8 Aug 2021 The two-week lockdown that the government imposed to contain the contagious Delta strain will likely cost the economy P300 billion in output losses, the country’s chief economist said.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 8 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy will lose at least P150 billion per week as Metro Manila and other areas are placed under the strictest quarantine measure as the country grapples with the expected spread of the more transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 7 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Dutch financial giant ING Bank and ANZ Research expect the Philippines to make a slower bounceback from the pandemic-induced recession as stricter lockdown and quarantine measures were reimposed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 4 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The reimposition of stricter lockdown and quarantine measures in the National Capital Region (NCR) starting Friday could further dampen the recovery prospects of the Philippines from the pandemic-induced recession, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

By Ben O. de Vera, 29 Jul 2021 The tax reforms enacted so far alongside the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure projects under the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program allowed the Duterte administration to accomplish thus far about 85 percent of its economic agenda, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 28 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its economic growth forecast for member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN-5) as the recent high COVID-19 infection rates continue to dampen the region’s recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.

by Ben O. de Vera, 27 Jul 2021 President Duterte’s final year in office became doubly challenging as the COVID-19 crisis reversed much of the prepandemic gains made toward the administration’s goals to sustain robust economic growth, reduce joblessness and move up to upper-middle income country status.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 21 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is keeping its economic growth outlook for the Philippines at 4.5 percent this year amid a sea of downgrades in Southeast Asia due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

by Mahar Mangahas, 17 Jul 2021 I n the latest SWS poverty report, for May 2021, half of all families in the Philippines feel Poor, one-third of them feel Borderline Poor, and only one-sixth say they are Not Poor. This is essentially unchanged from the previous report, for November 2020, upon resumption of SWS face-to-face/visual…

By: Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Jul 2021 After a rough start this year, the Philippine economy is seen regaining lost ground and is likely to attain a full-year growth of 5-6 percent, in turn perking up corporate earnings and stock prices.

by Gerardo P. Sicat (The Philippine Star), 14 Jul 2021 This year is another difficult year for the Philippines. One year and a few months have now passed since the pandemic hit us. The consequences on the country have brought hardship on many.

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 13 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic to go down in the coming months, provided there would be no shift to stricter quarantine restrictions.

By Ben O. de Vera, 6 Jul 2021 The declining number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines augurs well for economic recovery and the return of jobs lost amid last year’s pandemic-induced steep recession.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 3 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may lose nearly $21 billion by 2030 if the services provided by nature collapse and if no smart policies will be implemented to protect the country’s biodiversity.

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(The Philippine Star), 25 Jun 2021 MANILA, Philippines — S&P Global Ratings has lowered anew its 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines to six percent as the reimposition of strict lockdowns further restricted economic activity.

by Andrew J. Masigan (The Philippine Star), 23 Jun 2021 I spent the better part of last week conferring with fellow economists from the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University. We discussed the state of the economy and the decisions that led to four quarters of economic contractions. We agreed that: 1.…

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 18 Jun 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Businesses all over the globe are turning more optimistic as the world recovers from the impact of the pandemic, with downside risks becoming less and less, an international think tank said.