The Department of Finance (DOF) is optimistic that the country could still manage to sustain its economic recovery even as Filipinos grapple with coronavirus.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said yesterday that changes in behavior patterns along with appropriate technology will help the country to better adapt with the new normal and recover from the pandemic-induced crisis.
“I believe we will be able to develop and learn behavior patterns and appropriate technology that will allow us to operate effectively and efficiently and safely of course,” Dominguez said when asked if the country can have a sustainable economic recovery without containing the virus.
Dominguez’s comment comes hours after President Duterte hinted Metro Manila and nearly provinces’ return a less restrictive general community quarantine and a day after the government recorded the country’s single-highest surge in COVID-19 cases.
President Duterte admitted that he cautious about extending anew a strict lockdown in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna due to the lack of funds to help those whose movements are limited by the quarantine measures.
Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the President said the people need to go out now to work in order to put food on their tables, but they should cooperate with the government and follow quarantine and health protocols to prevent the virus transmission.
Earlier, Dominguez said the country must strike a fine balance between economic security and well-being until a lifesaving breakthrough is found to end the ongoing global health crisis.
Dominguez also said the public should learn how to dance with COVID-19 as the virus is emerging to stay longer and the vaccine is taking sometime to be developed.
Dominguez had pushed for a shift of Metro Manila and Calabarzon—accounting for about 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)—“as quickly as possible” to the most lenient quarantine status to kickstart the economy.
“We have to face the new reality. The reality today is that the virus is not going to go away and we will have to live with it for a long period of time,” Dominguez had said.
Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua also said the economic impact of the quarantine measures in country was "more severe than expected.
The economy contracted by 16.5 percent in the second-quarter, the country’s deepest GDP decline on record.