Economists Approves Economy Reopening to Encourage Growth

During President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA), it was mentioned that the government will implement additional measures to reopen the economy to deal with the issues brought about by COVID-19.

Chief Economist Michael Ricafort of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has mentioned that challenges that came about due to the pandemic will be tackled by having additional measures to reopen the economy, citing the vaccination drive against COVID-19.

Ricafort mentioned that achieving herd immunity “would be the more sustainable source of better economic recovery prospects in terms of allowing greater capacity for businesses/industries that entail more investments and employment, thereby would help solve many of the problems presented by Covid-19 in terms of continuity of more business operations.

He also says that securing business operations will, in turn, increase government revenues and “help narrow the country’s budget deficit and, in turn, reduce the need for more government borrowings.”

He adds that the plans made by the current administration’s economic team are predicted to increase the growth potential of the economy and adds that “the economic team members generally have the experience, expertise, credibility, and track record in terms of delivering the goals/priorities, as a good starting point/foundation.”

Ricafort also says that the country has been fortunate to have good economic teams over the past 10-20 years” when it comes to delivering the tax and economic reform measures, and the closing of the budget gap and lowering the share of debt to the country’s total output.

Source: Philippine News Agency