Business NEWS

             THE USA’S GDP GROWTH Is expected to slacken to a slow 1 percent (2021) and 1.4  percent (2022), China’s GDP forecast is down from 5.1 percent to 3.2 percent, and Europe is greatly affected by the war between neighbors Russia and Ukraine.                   

               The Philippines’ debt level hit an unprecedented P12-trillion and the Filipinos living under the poverty line went back to the 2017 era of 21 percent (about 23 million), mainly due to the pandemic.

             The old “Cold War” between Russia and America could develop into a “bare-knuckles” conflict now in Ukraine between Russia and the USA/NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

            COVID affected not just the physical but also the mental health of people. In the USA, 4 of 10 people had symptoms of anxiety and depression during this pandemic.

Many Filipinos are much poorer now than before the pandemic. Instead of progressing, many have slid back to the 2017 levels, representing a loss of four (4) years.

The rich and those in the urban areas, may not quite know the extent of the damage of COVID-19 on the poor and rural folks. The former are mostly concerned about health and death statistics.

People mocked (in 2017) the bitcoin believers when its price scaled to $30,000 only to drop to $3,000.

East Asia Forum is an independent think tank group based in Australia that is neither red (Republican), blue (Democrat), or yellow (Communist), mixing our allegorical metaphors to prove our point.

The country’s hugely correct monetary and fiscal national policies are not going to jumpstart the economy. Only business confidence aided by a resolute vaccine distribution system will do the trick.

The economic numbers resulting from the COVID-19 crisis are scary. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates the annual global GDP loss at US$9 trillion.  Here at home, with various shades of lockdowns still in place (by September), no one believes the government forecast of just a mere 3-4 percent GDP slide for 2020.