Philippines economy contracts 11.5% in Q3
10 November, 2020
The Philippine economy shrank by a lot more than expected on an annual basis in the 3rd quarter as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday (Nov 10), but the fallout eased following the government slowly but surely lifted coronavirus restrictions.
The Philippines imposed among the world's longest and strictest lockdowns earlier this season as it was hard hit by the coronavirus, tipping the economy into its first recession in practically 30 years in the April-June period.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 11.5 % in the 3rd quarter from a year earlier, the statistics agency said. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected the economy to slump 9.8 per cent after a revised contraction of 16.9 % in the next quarter.
But GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the July-September period as the federal government gradually lifted restrictions from the center of May to help ease the monetary pain.
That was a major improvement on a previously reported 15.2per cent contraction in the next quarter.
"The economy is on the mend. The worst is over," said Acting Economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, reading a prepared joint statement by the government's economic managers at a virtual press conference.
The pick-up in economic activity, along with moderate inflation, eases the pressure on the central bank to provide further monetary support.
The central bank already cut benchmark interest levels by a complete of 175 basis points this season while the government has launched 165.5 billion Philippine pesos (US$3.4 billion) worth of emergency relief measures to improve healthcare services and help businesses.
However the Philippine economy still looks poised for a full-year contraction in 2020 since it struggles to get the virus under control in the home while a resurgence of cases in Europe and america threatens a global monetary recovery.
The World Bank expects the Philippines, which has been among the world's fastest-growing economies recently, to shrink 6.9 per cent in 2020 - the biggest slump because the 1980s. The government is forecasting a far more modest contraction of between 4.5 % and 6.6 %.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths in the Southeast Asian region.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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