Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, said Tuesday the country needs a stronger and more focused stimulus to recover quickly from the impact of COVID-19 health crisis.
BPI lead economist Jun Neri said in an online forum on global economic prospects for 2021 that production was responding positively to the easing of quarantine measures.
“But the country’s recovery may continue to fall behind our ASEAN neighbors if reopening remains slow and fiscal response remains too conservative,” Neri said.
The Philippine economy declined by 11.5 percent in the third quarter, with household consumption falling by 9.3 percent and investment dropping 41.1 percent.
Neri said instead of a V-shaped recovery, the country was looking at a more prolonged recession and a W-shaped rebound where the economy would begin to recover rapidly, but then fall into a double-dip recession, but ending with another sharp rise.