The National Economic and Development Authority is confident that the country’s gross domestic product would be a lot better than the third quarter of 2021, which already posted a GDP growth of 7.1 percent.
With the Philippine economy growing by 7.1 percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, improvements in the manufacturing production, external trade, public infrastructure spending, employment and mobility will give the country a better GDP growth picture in the fourth quarter(Q4).
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a briefing of Foreign Chambers of Commerce, that effective management of COVID-19 risks—such as shift to the alert level system and granular lockdowns, removal of age restrictions on mobility and pilot opening of face- to- face schooling and increased transport capacity from 75 to 100 percent all contributed to the GDP growth in Q3.
“If we can perform at this level in the third quarter despite the ECQ and MECQ, we can expect even better performance in the fourth quarter of 2021. Our economic growth remains promising and we need to build on these gains to accelerate recovery, and prevent long-term scarring and productivity losses,” Chua said.
Steps to solidify gains
To solidify the country’s economic performance and to further accelerate economic recovery, NEDA proposes: First, reducing artificial barriers to vaccination and expanding the vaccination campaign to children ages 5 and above in the appropriate time.
Second, moving to Alert Level 1 by January 2022 which will require everyone’s adherence to the minimum health standards particularly during the holiday season.
Thirds, implementing the resumption of face-to-face classes for all schools in January 2022, with consideration to the lessons learned during the pilot classes conducted in selected areas.
Fourth, increasing public transport capacity to 100 percent for all transport types to ease public transport stations.
Fifthm streamlining all requirements for local and international travel to improve mobility.
“The data on our progress is likely to improve further if we focus on the safe reopening of the economy alongside the intensified vaccination drive and reduce the barriers to mobility to allow the free movement of people,” Chua said.
The virtual briefing was organized by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) - Investor Relations Office (IRO). This event updated members of the foreign chambers in the Philippines on the government’s initiatives to accelerate recovery and its plans to build a better post-pandemic economy.
Tags: #NEDA, #GDPgrowth, #Q4wouldbebetterthanQ3, #economy