Gov’t eyeing strong rebound
The government sees a “strong rebound” from the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease pandemic despite the brawny headwinds facing the country and the rest of the world this year, Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Tuesday.
Dominguez shared this optimistic outlook despite challenges which include the expected contraction of the entire global economy by about 4.4 percent this year.
For the country’s economy, he said the government projects it to shrink by six percent this year.
Dominguez said he expects the domestic economy to bounce back as mobility restrictions are eased, the Bayanihan 2 law and the additional economic reform measures are rolled out to save pandemichit businesses, high infrastructure spending under the “Build, Build, Build” program is sustained, and once the 2021 national budget is passed on time by the Congress.
“The Duterte administration’s aim is to pursue a safe new normal while we strive for a better normal. We cannot completely lock ourselves up to avoid COVID-19 at the expense of other vital dimensions of our lives. We should take less costly but effective measures,” Dominguez said.
The Duterte administration has been doing all it can to balance its efforts to reviving consumer confidence and further reopening the economy with implementing health interventions to flatten the curve, in order to preserve and create jobs and steer the economy to a quick and strong recovery, he added.
According to the Finance department, the calibrated easing of mobility restrictions led to improved numbers in terms of the unemployment rate, which dropped to 10 percent in July from 17.7 percent in April, when strict lockdowns were still in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Manufacturing likewise slowed down its contraction after the economy gradually reopened, he said, while revenue collections by the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and of Customs exceeded revised targets by eight percent in the first nine months of the year.
Dominguez expressed confidence that the nation can “outlast” the COVID-19 emergency as the government, under President Duterte’s leadership, has been consistently exercising prudence in managing its fiscal affairs.