Department of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (Photo file/THEPHILBIZNEWS)
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez cited the Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 11.8% in the second quarter of 2021 as a good start of an economic recovery. This is the highest and fastest growth in over three decades since the fourth quarter of 1988, which posted a growth of 12.0%.
The National Economic and Development Authority-Philippine Statistics Authority (NEDA-PSA) attributed this growth to the corresponding increase in the following sectors: Manufacturing; Construction; and Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which exhibited growth rates of 22.3%, 25.7%, and 5.4%, respectively.
“This remarkable growth is a result of the government’s continuing efforts to safely balance lives and livelihood as we take calculated and calibrated measures to manage the risks that come with reopening the economy,” DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said.
“The robust performance was sustained as we focused the restrictions on the less essential activities while allowing the rest of the economy, especially the essential and labor-intensive sectors such as the exports and BPO sectors to operate, so as to save jobs and income,” Sec. Lopez added.
“It can be seen that unlike the very strict ECQ we imposed last year, the ECQ this year was adjusted to allow key industries and services to operate. We also ensured that public transportation remained available so that workers and those that need to do errands and get vaccinated are able to move around safely to do what they need to do. What’s important is to restrict, in the meantime, the less essential activities,” he explained further.
He added, “As we continue with the current ECQ imposed in NCR and other areas this August, we are also accelerating our vaccination drive to take advantage of that two-week lull. This will further ensure the safety of Filipinos to go about with their daily lives as we resume economic activity.”
On the production side, NEDA reported that all sectors expanded except Agriculture, forestry and fishing, which slightly contracted by 0.1% due to the decline in pork production. Meanwhile, among the major economic sectors, Industry and Services posted positive growths of 20.8% and 9.6%, respectively.
On the demand side, Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) improved by 7.2%, along with the following items: Gross Capital Formation (GCF), 75.5%; Exports, 27.0%; and Imports, 37.8%. On the other hand, the Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) dropped by -4.9% in the second quarter of 2021.
Only government expenditure contracted, at -4.9 %, which was due to the high base effect from the roll-out of the largest ever emergency subsidies in the second quarter of 2020 in response to the extensive implementation of community quarantines.
Sec. Lopez expressed hope that the current ECQ will be short and able to arrest the spread of Delta variant so that “we can de-escalate to a lower quarantine classification and instead apply more granular lockdowns and allow other parts of the economy to move. This would bring back more jobs and allow the economy to continue the recovery process.”
