Philippines says number of online businesses has jumped 40 times

Registered online business names in the Philippines soared to over 75,000 last week from 1,700 in March— Free-Photos/Pixabay

The number of registered Philippine online businesses surged more than 40 times in the past five months as people turned to the Internet for income amid one of the world’s longest lockdowns.

Registered online business names soared to over 75,000 last week from 1,700 in March, the Department of Trade and Industry said in a statement on Sept 8.

The boom bodes well for the government, which is moving to tax online transactions as collections fall and spending rises due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Philippines expects its budget deficit to swell to a record this year as it sets an all-time high borrowing plan for 2021 to help the economy recover from a recession.

"The silver lining in Covid-19 is the accelerated adoption of e-commerce,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said, adding that the agency’s shift to digital business registration has also helped. – Bloomberg