Covid-19 cost Philippine economy US$43bil in 2020: research centre

DBS expects the Philippines’ GDP to grow by 4.2 per cent this year, within the government’s downscaled 4-5 per cent growth target. - AP

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): The Covid-19 pandemic shed $43 billion from the Philippine economy last year — the eighth-highest economic toll among 15 Asian economies, as the tourism- and services-dependent region suffered from lockdowns to contain the deadly coronavirus, the think tank Japan Center for Economic Research (Jcer) said on Monday (Oct 25).

The Singapore-based DBS Bank also expects the Philippines, alongside India and Indonesia, to be the region’s laggards in restoring their respective populations’ lost incomes due to the pandemic.