While rosy prospects for recovery abound in the near term, the first quarter of 2021 would likely remain under extended recession due to the slow reopening of the economy, the country’s chief economist conceded on Friday.
In a briefing with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap), Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said nothing significant has changed so far during the first quarter in terms of easing quarantine restrictions, especially given the threat from more contagious COVID-19 variant.
“The biggest area of economic productivity is still in GCQ (general community quarantine),” Chua noted, referring to Metro Manila and neighbori…
Keep on reading: Recession to persist in 1st quarter