World Bank trims economic growth forecast for Philippines
Source: Xinhua | 2020-12-09
The World Bank said on Tuesday that it has further downgraded its GDP forecast for the Philippines to negative 8.1 percent this year, citing the "multiple shocks" that buffeted the Southeast Asian country.
"The economic contraction deepened as the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a triple shock to the Philippines," World Bank Senior Economist Rong Qian told a virtual press conference, referring to the COVID-19 health crisis, the typhoons and the global recession.
The World Bank warned the contraction could temporarily reverse gains made in reducing poverty in recent years.
"The World Bank projects the Philippine economy to contract by 8.1 percent in 2020 before rebounding to 5.9 percent in 2021 and 6.0 percent in 2022," Qian said.
She said the current economic forecast is a revision from the negative 6.9 percent World Bank forecast in October, resulting from the deep contraction in the third quarter and the extensive damage and losses suffered by the country from the typhoons and floods in November.
"The series of natural disasters that hit the country while we are battling the pandemic highlights the importance of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into policy and planning," Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, said at the press conference.
"While the Philippines is financially resilient, stronger coordination, execution and implementation will help further improve social and physical resilience to frequent shocks," he added.
Diop said the three cyclones that hit the country in November in just two weeks had brought devastation to a large swath of the main Luzon island, further darkening the 2020 growth outlook.
The Philippine government last week projected the GDP to contract by 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent this year following the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown in various regions in the country.
The Philippine economy shrank by 11.5 percent in the third quarter of 2020, marking the first time in 35 years that the country's GDP contracted for three straight quarters.
The country's economy also shrank by 16.9 percent in the second quarter, and 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
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