Each week of 'Alert Level 3' to cost Philippine economy P3 billion
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy is projected to lose billions of pesos each week that the capital region and nearby urban areas are under the stricter Alert Level 3, which was raised amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
In a statement on Friday, the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said the tighter curbs in Metro Manila and provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal will result in a productivity loss of about P3.0 billion per week.
It’s a grim figure that would translate to more job shedding and lost economic output, in what the DBCC qualified as “a temporary setback and is a necessary adjustment in view of the new COVID variant.”
“This may delay our goal of shifting to Alert level 1,” the committee said. “As we previously said, we are in a better position to manage possible spikes.”
Before this new wave, economic officials said in numerous statements in December last year they were hoping for the entire country to transition to Alert Level 1 by January. Under this status, businesses would be allowed to operate at full-site capacity, but still subject to minimum public health standards.
But that goal is now impossible to hit as the Philippines grapples with yet another spike in infections that, the health department said, have the potential to peak this month. Assuming the latest surge is being driven by the more contagious but less virulent Omicron strain, local health officials said cases may even surpass the previous wave caused by the more lethal Delta variant last year.
Already, investors remain wary as more areas return to stricter mobility curbs. The Philippine Stock Exchange index slumped 1.05% on Friday to cap the week at 7,011.11, which Luis Limlingan, head of sales at local brokerage Regina Capital, attributed to “choppy trading”.
"Philippine shares fell once again to end a day of choppy trading, following the massive tech sell-off in the previous session and the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases," Limlingan said in a market commentary.
For now, the DBCC said it is “closely monitoring the impact of the elevated number of COVID-19 cases”. In a separate statement, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the largest business group in the country, said they received an assurance from the government that there would be no hard-lockdowns amid the fresh surge.
“The government will not implement hard lockdowns, but it will instead restrict the movement of the unvaccinated individuals to ensure the safety of everyone,” the PCCI said, citing a statement from Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
“We are happy that the government is no longer imposing hard lockdowns as a safeguard measure against increasing Omicron cases. Otherwise, it would be difficult again for our economy to recover if businesses will be shut down,” they added.
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