IMF cuts Philippine 2020 GDP growth forecast to 0.6%, expects unemployment to rise to 6.2%

MANILA, Philippines, April 15 (Philippine Inquirer/ANN) – The COVID-19 pandemic would not only slow the Philippines’ economic growth to a dismal 0.6 percent but also render more Filipinos jobless this year, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

With slower gross domestic product (GDP) expansion, the unemployment rate in the Philippines is projected to climb to 6.2 percent in 2020 from 5.1 percent in 2019 before falling to 5.3 percent in 2021, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) April 2020 report released Tuesday shows.