Three in 10 businesses have shut down as of mid-June, a survey done by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) showed.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said the results are a cause of worry the survey having been done between June 4 and 17 just as the lockdown in Metro Manila and most parts of the country was eased from modified enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine (GCQ).
With Metro Manila still under GCQ, Lopez said the DTI will institute policies that will restart businesses and stimulate demand.
He said DTI will roll out more interventions to ensure the survival and recovery of businesses. These are in the form of financing, training and webinars.
The survey also showed only 22 percent of companies polled were in full operation. A little more than half, 52 percent, are on partial operation.
The survey covered 2,135 companies cutting across industries .
The DTI will hold another survey at the end of the month, Lopez said.
The poll would give the DTI a clearer picture of the state of businesses as to how the easing of the lockdowns had paved the way for the reopening of companies.
But if it is any indication of the dire circumstances of businesses especially the micro and small in size, the DTI’s P1-billion soft loans is running out.
Lopez said the agency through SB Corp. received P3.5 billion worth of applications and would have to look for other sources of funds. The DTI plans to channel a P3-billion fund from the Pondo ng Pagbabago at Pagasenso and seek financing from Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.
But Lopez remains confident of gradual recovery citing country’s manufacturing sector is close to stability.