Philippines war chest not enough

MANILA: The Philippines’ war chest against Covid-19 may not be enough to bankroll the huge financial support needed to recover from the pandemic-induced recession as well as resume jobs and livelihood, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.

Compared to neighbouring Asian countries like Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand, “the packages for the Philippines and Indonesia are substantially smaller as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and in per capita terms, ” read the ADB economics working paper titled “An Analysis of the Worldwide Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic: What and How Much?”