The government’s economic managers are awaiting the assessment on the damage from the successive earthquakes this week to see if they could impact on economic growth that was earlier predicted at 6 percent to 7 percent this year.
“We will know after the damage assessments are in,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the head of the Cabinet’s economic team, said when asked for comment.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo echoed Dominguez’s statement, saying it was too early to tell if the earthquakes would have any significant impact on the economy.
“It would depend on the damage brought about by the earthquake,” Guinigundo said in a text message.
A 6.1-intensity quake hit Castillejos town in Zambales province on Monday but more damage was reported in several Pampanga towns. The following day, a 6.5-magnitude tremor struck the province of Eastern Samar.
Science and Technology Undersecretary Renato Solidum said in a television interview that the Eastern Samar quake on Tuesday afternoon was expected to cause less damage compared to the Zambales quake.
President Rodrigo Duterte expressed confidence that the Luzon quake would not disrupt the local economy.
Initial reports said Pampanga was the worst hit by the earthquake that killed at least 15 people and damaged public infrastructure and private properties. The quake also damaged the Clark International Airport, resulting in the airport’s closure since Monday night.
The province’s second district”•composed of the municipalities of Floridablanca, Guagua, Lubao, Porac, Santa Rita and Sasmuan”•were placed under a state of calamity to allow the provincial government to tap funds intended for rehabilitation and disaster response.
The International Monetary Fund slightly cut its growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 6.5 percent from the 6.6-percent estimate made in October 2018, saying a number of economic uncertainties, trade tensions and policy normalization in advanced economies would affect most economies this year.
Such lower GDP forecast was, however, stronger compared to the actual growth of 6.2 percent in 2018.
The 6.2-percent expansion last year missed the government’s official target range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent, pulled down by faster inflation rate and the sluggish performance of the agriculture sector.
Inflation peaked at 6.7 percent in September and October 2018, but eased to 6 percent in November and 5.1 percent in December as the measures implemented by the government to curb the rising prices took effect. This brought the full-year average to 5.2 percent, above the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
Inflation eased to 4.4 percent in January, 3.8 in February and 3.3 percent in March 2019, bringing the first-quarter average to 3.8 percent.