Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez recently stressed that “the worst is over,” with third quarter gross domestic product shrinking at a slower pace than the previous quarter.
“As we gradually reopen the economy with health interventions, our GDP performed much better. We had a smaller GDP contraction of 11.5 percent in the third quarter from a decline of 16.9 percent in the second quarter of this year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy grew by eight percent in the third quarter,” Dominguez said.
He added further improvements are expected in the fourth quarter as government progressively reopens more businesses and ease transport restrictions.
“The path is clearer to a strong bounce-back in 2021,” he said.
Dominguez stressed the Duterte administration intends to find more ways to revive the domestic economy while strengthening the country’s health system.
The worst could be over, and just like the Visayan Daily Star that has somehow managed to find the ways and means to come back despite the many major challenges and setbacks caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, much of the world is determined to go on.
Let us continue supporting each other in every way we can as we navigate the unfamiliar territory we are now facing.
Government officials will always say that the worst is over or things are not so bad but it is up to us to make the best of what we have been given.
Together, we can rise again.
