Philippine economy still 5.7% short from pre-pandemic levels —PSA

Despite recording its second straight quarter of positive growth in the third quarter of 2021, the Philippine economy is still far from returning to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

The economy as measured by gross domestic product (GDP)—the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a specific period—grew 7.1% in the third quarter, a reversal from a contraction of 11.4% in the same period last year albeit lower compared to the 12% growth posted in the second quarter of 2021.

At a virtual press briefing, National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said that, in peso terms, the third quarter GDP was estimated at P13.32 trillion.

“For the first nine months of 2019, our GDP was estimated to be about P14.1 trillion,” the PSA chief said.

“So comparing our nine months 2021 performance versus the pre-pandemic of 2019, we are still down by about 5.7%,” he added.

Compared to the first nine months of 2019, the July to September GDP was 4.9% higher than the P12.7 trillion recorded in the same period in 2020.

For his part, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said it is possible for the economy to return to pre-pandemic levels by the first quarter of 2022.

“So long as there are no unexpected new risks, like a stronger variant or a global surge, then I think we are clearly on track to a strong recovery,” Chua said.

Alert Level 1 by January 2022

The country’s chief economist said that “to further sustain our growth this year and next year, the government will further accelerate the vaccination program, reopen to Alert Level 1 in January 2022, and maximize the use of the 2021 budget.”

The National Economic and Development Authority estimates that if Metro Manila de-escalates to Alert Level 1 “an additional P10.3 billion in GDP and 43,000 in employment can be gained per week.”

Under Alert Level 1, all establishments or activities are allowed to operate at full on-site or venue/seating capacity provided that it is consistent with minimum public health standards.

“As of November 7, a total of 64.2 million vaccine doses have been rolled out. Of these, 34.7 million doses were administered as the first dose and 29.5 million were administered as the complete dose,” Chua said.

“This means that 29.5 million Filipinos or 38% of the adult population have been fully vaccinated. The numbers will improve rapidly as we continue to ramp up the vaccination program. On November 4, the Philippines exceeded 1.1 million jabs in one day,” he added.

The NEDA chief said that in the coming weeks, the vaccination program will include children aged 12 to 17.

“When the approvals are made, we will soon include children aged 5 to 11,” he said.

“This opens the door to the resumption of face-to-face schooling beginning in January 2022,” he added.—AOL, GMA News