Philippines stands to benefit from worldwide drop in oil prices, says NEDA chief

The Philippines stands to benefit from the drastic decline in international crude oil prices as demand for the commodity continued to drop due to travel restrictions meant to stop COVID-19, the country’s new chief economist said on Tuesday.

“You know, our country is not an exporter so definitely we’ll not suffer,” said acting National Economic Development Authority chief Karl Chua in a virtual press briefing.

“We are an importer, definitely we will benefit from this lower oil price... We are definitely a net beneficiary of this,” he said.

The US benchmark crude oil price collapsed on Monday, falling to one cent a barrel amid an epic supply glut caused largely by the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on demand, according to a report by Reuters.

Likewise, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery ended trading at -$37.63 a barrel ahead of Tuesday's close for futures contracts —when traders who buy and sell the commodity for profit would have had to take physical possession of it.

“It signals that demand is very weak in the whole world that’s why prices fell,” Chua said. -NB, GMA News