THE government hopes that retail spending in the last quarter of the year can boost the pandemic-hit economy, Malacañang said Thursday.
“Pagpasok ng ‘ber’ months, ito po traditionally ang pinakamalakas pagdating sa retail so inaasahan po natin na magbubukas tayo nang sapat para magkaroon po ng maximum opportunity ang merkado na makabawi,” said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
“Sana po itong October, November, December we can somehow catch up nang hindi naman po ganoon kalaki ang maging contraction ng ating ekonomiya,” he told reporters.
The Philippines is forecast to see a 6.9 percent economic contraction this year, the World Bank said, the biggest since the 1980s and worse than the government’s projected 5.5 percent decline.
Its recovery has been constrained by an unrelenting first wave of infections since March, with more than 340,000 cases, limiting its ability to fully reopen businesses, and restart domestic and international tourism.
The government recently reopened Boracay island to tourists from Metro Manila and elsewhere in the country. It will also urge local governments to shorten curfew hours and will implement a “one-seat-apart” rule in public vehicles to increase their capacity. (Reuters/ABS-CBN News)
