Neda: ₧83B in wages, income lost in NCR Plus ECQ

OVER P83 billion worth of income and wages were lost during the recent tighter community quarantine in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its surrounding areas, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Neda Acting Secretary Karl Chua said the twoweek enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR Plus—metro Manila,

Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, and Rizal—cost the economy P39.2 billion worth of income and wages based on Neda’s computations.

Meanwhile, he said the country will lose P14.7 billion worth of income and wages per week during the threeweek MECQ in NCR plus. The MECQ is expected to last until end-april.

Chua revealed these during the public address of President Duterte late Monday to stress the importance of arresting the Covid-19 case surge nationwide.

“We believe we must help one another to solve the spike [in Covid cases] and gradually reopen the economy so we could bring back lower prices [of goods] and employment to our citizens,” Chua said.

He noted that prior to the declaration of the ECQ— the strictest community quarantine classification—in NCR Plus on March 29, 2021, the country’s economy has finally started to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Around 9.3 million jobs were generated in February, which effectively offset the 8.7 million job losses in previous months and provided a net employment of 600,000, according to Chua.

The economic manager said he hopes the country will be able to minimize the country’s unemployment rate to 4 to 5 percent next year from its current rate of 8.8 percent.

“This is important since this [increase in employment] keeps our economy running,” Chua said.