Gov't to disprove Moody's forecast of Philippines likely to be last country in Asia Pacific to fully recover
The Philippine government would "disprove" the forecast of Moody's Analytics that the country is likely to be the last country in Asia Pacific to fully recover from recession due to coronavirus pandemic, Malacanang said.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government has been prudent on its fiscal policies as the country continuously opens its economy.
"Don't worry, we will disprove the forecast wrong. This is the reason why we're opening the economy and we keep on reminding our people: Take care of our lives in order for us to go to work," he said on Thursday.
Moody's Analytics chief economist Steven Cochrane said the Philippines, like India, was least committed to fiscal stimulus despite its economy being one of the hardest hit by the pandemic in the region. Thus, the Philippines may fully recover only by the fourth quarter of next year, reports said.
Quoting Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Roque said the government avoids incurring huge debts in order not to affect its credit rating.
"We don't even know until when this crisis brought by COVID-19 will end," he said.
"Right now, I think the approach of Secretary Dominguez is more prudent, go slow in borrowing, go slow in spending," Roque said.
He noted that it was not expected that the COVID-19 vaccination would be delayed.
"So, let us not spend all our funds because we don't know when this pandemic will end," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS
