Palace hopes ‘ber’ months spending may cushion further economic slump

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is hoping that holiday spending in the last quarter of the year will help cushion the economic slide brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Alam ninyo po pagpasok ng ‘ber’ months, ito po traditionally ang pinakamalakas pagdating po sa retail,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a televised Palace press briefing Thursday.

(As you all know when the ‘ber’ months come, this is traditionally the strongest when it comes to retail.)

Roque noted that the government is gradually allowing more businesses to resume operations to maximize the opportunity this “ber” months.

“So sana po itong buwan ng October, November, December, we can somehow catch up nang hindi naman po ganoon kalaki ang naging contraction ng ating ekonomiya,” the Palace official said.

(So hopefully this October, November,  and December, we can somehow catch up and avoid that much contraction of our economy.)

“Dahil sabi nga po noong isang bangko ‘no, we will suffer the worst contraction ‘no in the whole of Southeast Asia kaya humahabol po tayo. Pero siyempre po kaya po nating gawin ito, pangalagaan lang natin ang ating buhay para tayo’y makapaghanapbuhay,” he added.

(Just like what a bank recently projected, we will suffer the worst contraction in the whole of Southeast Asia so we are playing catch up. But of course we can do this, let’s just take care of our lives so we can make a living.)

Roque was referring to the projection of the International Monetary Fund that the Philippine economy will experience the sharpest contraction in the entire Southeast Asian region.

The Philippines is currently on its worst economic downturn in nearly three decades after it suffered a recession during the first half of 2020.

JPV