Recession Expected to Continue in the First Quarter of 2021

Karl Kendrick Chua, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, in a briefing with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), said the first quarter of 2021 will likely continue under recession due to the slow reopening of the economy.

If this is true, the recession will have sustained for 5 straight quarters, beginning in the first quarter of 2020.

Chua added “At the same time, our effort to open more of the economy will allow us to have better access to FDI (foreign direct investment), the technology, and the innovation that may come. And this is actually very crucial because the mark of an upper-middle-income country is innovation and there’s no way, I think, we can maximize that if we remain closed in terms of foreign ownership,”

The Philippines is aiming to move up to upper-middle-income status in 2022.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has been pushing for amendments in the Constitution targeting foreign ownership to attract more foreign capital investment.

Rosemarie Edillon, NEDA Undersecretary, said “According to an earlier World Bank study, no other country in ASEAN [besides the Philippines] has the restrictions in the Constitution, except for Thailand, but only for mass media. The only concern is how to do it, since opening the Constitution requires a careful approach, inclusive consultation, and safeguards to ensure that the objectives are not captured by other motives,”

Source: Inquirer