NEDA: Too early to revise 2022 economic growth targets amid expanded Alert Level 3

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Tuesday it is still too early for the economic managers to revise growth targets for 2022 amid the hoisting of Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila and around 50 other areas until the end of January.

“With respect to the target for the year, it’s still early days to be revising it whether upwards or downwards because it’s just January 18,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said during the Presidential Communications and Operations Office’s (PCOO) virtual press briefing.

The administration’s economic managers—collectively the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), which is composed of the chiefs of Budget and Management, Finance, and Socioeconomic Planning—target 7% to 9% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2022. 

The economic managers also said earlier that the Philippine economy stands to lose P3 billion each week the National Capital Region (NCR) and its four adjacent provinces are under Alert Level 3. 

The NCR and its nearby provinces have been under Alert Level 3 since January 7. The government extended the alert level until the end of this month as it placed more areas under the Alert Level 3 for the entirety of January. 

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments will be allowed to operate at 30% indoor venue capacity but exclusively for fully vaccinated people and 50% outdoor venue capacity as long as employees are fully vaccinated.

In-person classes, contact sports, funfairs/perya, and casinos are among the activities and establishments that are prohibited under Alert Level 3.

Despite the projected billions of pesos worth of economic productivity while the most areas of the country are under Alert Level 3, Edillon said

Edillon said that “there’s still a lot of developments that can happen, hopefully positive developments.”

“The alert level system is more of a balancing act with respect to health and economic objectives,” she added.

The NEDA official said the losses under the alert level system are “much tamer” compared to the community quarantine system implemented in 2020 and 2021.

Edillon also banks on the ramped up vaccination drive of the government which will be a “very good protection” for both the public health and economic sectors.

The economic team earlier said that the government crafted the 10-point policy agenda to shift the country from a pandemic to an endemic paradigm.

The 10-point policy agenda covers the following areas: metrics; vaccination; healthcare capacity; economy and mobility; schooling; domestic travel; international travel; digital transformation; pandemic flexibility bill; and medium-term preparation for pandemic resilience. — BM, GMA News