DOF: Philippines on its way to recovery
THE Philippines is on its way to recovering lost ground as it has grown more than expected in the second and third quarters, averaging 4.88 percent, the chief economist of the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
DOF Undersecretary Gil Beltran said “the arrival of much needed vaccines and the efficient administration thereof should be able to help in the safe and gradual reopening of the economy, bring back investor confidence and speed up recovery.”
“Still, the country needs to stay alert and not let its guard down—already, the newly identified Omicron variant is threatening to dampen the merry mood of the Yuletide season—lest hopes be dashed again as the previous scenes replay where the situation would appear to get better before things got much worse,” said Beltran.
“Living prudently with the virus bears in mind that it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Otherwise, it will be quarantines redux and the future is exactly what it used to be.”
Outlook on the Philippine economy by the private sector, including credit rating agencies, has also improved. Fitch, for instance, revised upward its 2021 growth outlook for the Philippines from 4.2 percent to 4.5 percent.
The country’s total merchandise trade in the first three quarters of the year is 125.11 percent its pre-pandemic level.
“Such recovery in external trade is broadly in line with similarly rated peers and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ neighbors.
The Philippines managed to attract nearly US$4.3 billion in foreign direct investments in the first half of 2021, 40 percent higher than the level in the same period of 2020 and nearly half the full-year pre-pandemic level.
Meanwhile, the DOF chief economist emphasized that the passage of important economic bills—the amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act—in addition to Create and the Build, Build, Build program will help attract more investments, generate yet more employment, hasten the country’s recovery and put the country back on its stellar pre-pandemic growth rate of above six percent. (KOC/With PR)
