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Philippines: DBCC to revisit growth targets
The government’s economic managers will meet today (Wednesday) to review their macroeconomic targets in light of recent events, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd.
“We are having another meeting with the DBCC tomorrow to determine what the future seems to look like given this lockdown episode we had,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.
DBCC is the Development Budget Coordination Committee, an inter-agency organization made up of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Office of the President.
The DBCC maintained its gross domestic product (GDP) expansion targets of 6 to 7 percent in 2021 and 7 to 9 percent in 2022 last month. The 6 to 7 percent growth forecast for 2023 and 2024 was also reaffirmed.
The DBCC targets, Dominguez reiterated, will take into account the country’s emerging GDP data as well as the current Covid-19-related lockdowns in various places.
The economy came out of recession in the second quarter of this year, with an increase in GDP of 11.8 percent. In comparison, the previous quarter’s and year’s contractions were 3.9 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
The outcome in April-June, however, was far below the government’s growth target.
The NEDA previously said that the economy will lose P150 billion every week as a result of reimposed lockdowns in the country in an effort to contain the highly transmissible Delta strain of Covid-19.
“We are facing a crisis unlike any other we have faced before. We have a virus that is mutating. And the mutations are our are quite severe so far in their new variants,” Dominguez continued.
He said that vaccine is the country’s first line of defense against the virus, noting that the government’s vaccination program “is proceeding as originally announced,” with 42.6 million vaccines acquired between March and August 15, and 27.8 million doses administered.
“I cannot predict what what new form will come up, but rest assured that we are ready to meet it with our first line of defense. We have also been investing heavily in our healthcare. So that seems to be the only logical way we can approach this now,” the Finance chief noted.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/08/18/business/top-business/dbcc-to-revisit-growth-targets/1811401