Economic rebound expected in Q2, Q3, says DTI chief

File photo shows a general view of the skyline of the financial district of Makati  City in Metro Manila. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may register a positive economic growth in the second or third quarter of the year after falling to its worst post-war recession in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Monday. 

 Lopez said that the forecast economic recovery this year may happen as long as localized lockdowns are enforced only in areas with a spike in COVID-19 cases, which also means more lenient restrictions for areas with fewer infections.

 “Kapag pinairal naman ‘yung strict enforcement at doon sa localized lockdown, I think doable pa rin ‘yung ating pinoproject na rebound ngayong taon na ito. Lalo na itong darating na second, third quarter ay aasahan natin na at least magpositive growth ulit ang ating ekonomiya,” he said over ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(If we will follow strict enforcement of protools and localized lockdowns, I think the projected rebound this year is still doable. Especially this second, third quarter, we are expecting that the economy will have a positive growth.)

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez. (File photo by YANCY LIM / Presidential Photographers Division)

 In January, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the 9.5-percent drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 was the biggest since the government started recording yearly output in 1946 or after World War II. 

 In a report released in the same month, Oxford Economics lead Asia economist Sian Fenner and economist Sung Eun Jung projected that the country’s GDP would grow 7.7 percent in 2021.

Later in February, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projected that the Philippines will post an economic growth of 5.9 percent in 2021 following the record recession last year.

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