The country is on track to achieve the higher end of the government’s full-year economic growth target, the country’s finance chief said, while restrictions are expected to ease to alert level 1 by the start of 2022.
Carlos Dominguez, Department of Finance (DOF) secretary, said in a speech read for him by finance undersecretary Gil Beltran at the 47th Philippine Business Conference and Expo yesterday that the accelerated rollout of the new coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination program in the third quarter of th year, and the calibrated opening of the economy have led to the strong economic performance.
“We are on track to achieve the high-end of our four to five percent GDP growth target for 2021. Our year-to-date GDP growth is currently at 4.9 percent,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said he is “very optimistic about the future” owing to the administration’s willingness to innovate and undertake the reforms necessary to rebuild a strong, inclusive and sustainable economy that thrives in the 21st century.
“With current trends, we expect to achieve alert level 1 by the onset of the New Year. We are all looking forward to the new and better normal,” Dominguez said.
Under Alert Level 1, all businesses are allowed to operate at full-site capacity, subject to minimum public health standards.
In a statement, Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. and presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion reminded establishments to strictly uphold health measures after reports that business establishments have become lax in their observance of the protocols necessary to keep COVID-19 infections in check, specifically in checking the vaccination cards of customers allowed inside their establishments.
“We must stay vigilant. Even if we will have vaccinated 90 percent of NCR (National Capital Region) by December, this does not mean that we can relax our adherence to minimum public health standards,” said Abalos.
NCR is currently under Alert Level 2, the second most relaxed level and with most businesses open except for a few that are still considered high risk. The government also recently removed face shield mandates and started vaccinating children ages 12 to 17.
Children and senior citizens have also been allowed to engage in outdoor activities following months of being restricted to their homes.
Meanwhile, Dominguez also underscored the need for businesses to adapt quickly to the rapid changes in the economy resulting from digital innovations to prepare them for a “new, better normal” that the government expects to commence at the onset of 2022.
He said the country should take full advantage of its demographic sweet spot, in which its workforce is made up mostly of young and talented people ready to swiftly adjust to the transformations taking place in the new economy.
Dominguez said technological innovations have been initiated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue , Bureau of Customs, Bureau of the Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission among others.
