Gov’t says economy remains on solid footing

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has assured the public that the Duterte administration would not rest until the country has prevailed over the current extraordinary challenge and promised to redouble efforts to protect the economic gains over the past three years, prepare our economy for a strong recovery, strengthen the country’s resilience and solidify the return to the path of inclusive growth.

“President Duterte’s decision to place back Metro Manila and neighboring provinces from the relaxed GCQ status to the stricter MECQ from Aug. 4 to 18, in response to this recent surge in COVID-19 cases, will negatively affect livelihoods, consumer demand and production in the short run,” Dominguez admitted.

“But it will benefit the country in the long haul if this two-week timeout is used to boost medical resources and prevent the further spread of the virus,” Dominguez added.

“We are not alone in our struggles, although the unique fiscal and macroeconomic strengths with which we entered 2020 will continue to provide us with solid footing as we confront our economic challenges,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said that the government was doing its utmost to protect lives in ways that do not prevent Filipinos from earning a living while every effort was also being exerted to ensure that consumer and business confidence is restored.

The stricter COVID-19 lockdown reimposed in Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces that accounted for half of the economy will hurt moves to recover in the near term following a recession, the research arm of debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service said.

“The risks arise from the renewed restrictions on Manila and nearby provinces to contain an increasing trend of new COVID-19 cases, and the significant deterioration in employment conditions, which will hold back the pace of rebound in consumer spending in the post-restrictions phase, given the severe dent to household incomes,” Moody’s Analytics said in a report on Monday.

Moody’s Analytics was referring to the ongoing modified enhanced community quarantine, which also covered the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, in response to an appeal from medical frontliners for a “timeout” amid surging COVID-19 cases after three-fourths of the economy were opened under a less-restrictive general community quarantine in June. INQ