The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) released a report on 19 March 2020 entitled “Addressing the Social and Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
The report highlights the pandemic’s economic impact especially on travel and tourism, exports, remittances, consumption, and fiscal impact. It also discusses the immediate impact of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) stating that “NEDA estimates that the ECQ over Luzon for one month could result in a loss of gross value added of PHP298 billion to PHP1.1 trillion, equivalent to 1.5 to 5.3 percent of GDP. This is expected to reduce employment by 61,000 to 1 million.”
The NEDA report also discusses how to address the social impact of the pandemic. Previously, the NEDA proposed a three-phased program of interventions. The same framework can be used, though slightly revised, to consider the implementation of the ECQ. Phase 1a is on clinical/medical response, Phase 1b on public health response, Phase 1c on short-term augmentation of health systems capacity, Phase 2 on rebuilding consumer and business confidence, and Phase 3 on the resumption of a new normal state of economic activity that is more prepared for the next pandemic.
On page 13 of the report, NEDA encourages existing business to reconfigure their product offerings to include essential supplies to fight COVID-19. One example is encouraging plastic manufacturers to shift production to essential supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPEs), tents for checkpoints and testing facilities, and the like.
Page 16 outlines ways on how to rebuild consumer and business confidence in order to assure the public of the adequacy of our improved health systems so that hesitations to engage in economic activities will be reduced.
To access the full report, please click on this link:
Click here to access the full report
