51% see economy improving this year

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of adult Filipinos expect the economy to improve this year, results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Wednesday night showed.

The survey, conducted from Dec. 12 to 16, found that 51 percent of the 1,440 respondents expect a better economy in the next 12 months.

It was nine points higher than the 42 percent obtained in the previous survey conducted in November 2020.

Meanwhile, the percentage of those who expect the economy to worsen in the next 12 months dropped from 18 percent to seven percent, while those who said it would stay the same increased from 28 percent to 30 percent.

The remaining 12 percent of respondents said they do not know, SWS said.

The latest survey resulted in a “net economic optimism” score of +44, classified as “excellent” by the polling firm. It was obtained by subtracting those who said that it would worsen from those who said that it would improve in the next 12 months.

SWS said the latest net economic optimism score was a continuing recovery from the “mediocre” -9 in July 2020, “mediocre” -5 in September 2020 and “high” +24 in November 2020.

This is the highest since the “excellent” +44 obtained in September 2016.

Compared to the most recent survey last November 2020, the latest poll showed improvements across all areas and educational groups.

It was highest among those in balance Luzon at +52 (from +24), followed by Metro Manila at +47 (from +31), Mindanao at +46 (from +36) and Visayas at +19 (from +4).

Net economic optimism was highest among college graduates at +50 (from +18), followed by high school and elementary graduates at +45 (from +24 and +45, respectively) and non-elementary graduates at +29 (from +21).

SWS also noted that optimism about the economy is higher among those who expect their lives to improve in the next 12 months.

Earlier, the survey firm said that 45 percent of adult Filipinos expect their lives to improve this year, while 42 percent said it would stay the same. Three percent said it would worsen.

Some 73 percent of those who expect their lives to improve said they also expect a better economy this year, compared to 24 percent of those who expect their lives to remain the same and 17 percent among those who said it would worsen. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent for the national percentages.

Malacañang welcomed the survey result, saying it indicates that the government’s strategy for easing pandemic-related restrictions is effective.

“The Palace considers this rating, classified as ‘excellent’ by SWS and the highest net economic optimism since September 2016, as clear indication of how effective our calibrated strategy of shifting to alert level system to further reopen the economy – where more businesses are operating and more Filipinos are able to go to work – while ramping our COVID-19 vaccination drive,” acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said in a statement.

Andanar said Filipinos have more reasons to feel confident about the future with the approval of the 10-point policy agenda designed to accelerate and sustain economic recovery from the pandemic. The agenda demonstrates that the government has concrete plans to sustain the country’s economic rebound, he added. — Alexis Romero