BSP’s Diokno: Philippines likely to lower GDP target due to two-week ECQ in NCR Plus

Philippine economic managers are likely to lower the Philippine economic growth target this year due to the recent two-week reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR Plus bubble, an official said Monday.

According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) will likely lower its gross domestic product (GDP) target to 6.0% to 7.0%.

"Because of that recent closure of the economy due to the ECQ in NCR Plus, the DBCC may revise the original forecast of 6.5% to 7.5%. A possible result of this, in my estimate, is that the target for this year may be around 6% to 7%," he said in a mix of English and Filipino during the Lagina Handa virtual briefing.

The DBCC in December said they expect the GDP to bounce back to 6.5% to 7.5% this year, and 8% to 10% in 2022.

However, the government placed NCR Plus — Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan — under the strictest ECQ starting March 29. It was set to last only until April 4, but was extended for another week until April 11.

On Sunday, Malacañang announced that the NCR Plus bubble will shift to a modified enhance community quarantine (MECQ) which will be in place from April 12 to April 30.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) last week said the two-week reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR Plus bubble would result in P30 billion in losses in households' income, and shave of 0.8 percentage points from the GDP. — RSJ, GMA News