MANILA – The Philippine economy will take more than a decade to return to pre-pandemic growth, an official said today, warning the next two generations of Filipinos would be paying for the cost of Covid-19.
Lockdowns and other restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus have shattered the Southeast Asian nation’s economy, throwing millions out of work and leaving many poor families hungry.
“Our long run total cost of Covid and the quarantine both to the present and future society – meaning our children and our grandchildren – will reach 41.4 trillion” pesos (RM3.3 trillion), Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said.
The figure is more than twice the Philippines’ gross domestic product last year, which the World Bank estimates at US$361.5 billion.
The losses would be felt over the next 10 to 40 years, Chua said.
Consumption, investment and tax revenues would struggle to recover as social distancing rules prevent key sectors, such as tourism and restaurants, from fully reopening.
Lower productivity caused by death, illness or lack of schooling during the pandemic “is likely to be permanent”, he added.
The economy is expected to expand by 4% to 5% this year, Chua said, compared with a record contraction of 9.6% last year.
But it would take 10 years before the country returned to pre-pandemic growth, which averaged 6.4% in the 10 years before Covid-19 hit.
Nearly 70% of the economy, including 23.3 million workers, remain under “heightened quarantine” restrictions, Chua said.
He warned lockdowns caused greater hunger and are not the answer to the pandemic.
The Philippines has recorded more than 2.5 million infections, including over 38,000 deaths.
Just over a quarter of the adult population has been fully vaccinated amid a delayed and slow vaccination roll-out. – AFP, September 30, 2021
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