1st LD Writethru: Philippine economy shrinks 9.5 pct in 2020, lowest growth since 1946
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E-mail Xinhua, January 28, 2021
MANILA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine economy shrank 9.5 percent in 2020 after contracting 8.3 percent in the fourth quarter due to the prolonged impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
"The Philippine gross domestic product posted a growth rate of -8.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, resulting in the -9.5 percent full-year growth rate for 2020," PSA head Dennis Mapa said in a virtual press conference.
Mapa said the 2020 GDP growth is the lowest since 1946.
According to the PSA, the full-year growth of agriculture in the Philippines is at -0.2 percent; services, -9.1 percent; and industry, -13.1 percent.
"COVID-19 disrupted our growth momentum and development trajectory," Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in the same briefing, adding 2020 was "the most difficult year in our lives."
Chua said the quarantine restrictions reduced household spending by 801 billion pesos (roughly 16.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 or an average of around 2.2 billion pesos (roughly 45.7 million U.S. dollars) per day.
"The fall in consumption translates into a total income loss of around 1.04 trillion pesos (roughly 21.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 or an average of around 2.8 billion pesos (roughly 58 million U.S. dollars) per day," Chua added.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee estimates that the economy will grow by 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2021 and by 8 to 10 percent in 2022.
"Further opening the economy in 2021 will require a careful and calibrated approach given risks from new virus strains," Chua said.
However, he added that "prolonging the status quo of community quarantine and risk aversion is not an option."
"In 2020, we saw significant hardships among the people deprived of jobs and income that led to more hunger, more poor people, higher prevalence of other sicknesses, far more deaths from non-COVID-19 reasons, and lost opportunities," Chua added.
The Philippines now has 518,407 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 10,481 deaths. Enditem
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