CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, June 6 (PIA) – The economy of Northern Mindanao (NorMin) has been greatly affected by the occurrence of coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-10 Regional Director Mylah Fe Aurora Cariño said during the "Talakayan sa PIA" on Thursday, June 4.
"The economy was really hurt, as COVID-19 has adversely affected not only the health but the economy as well. With the work disruption - initially for 45 days then for 60 days, definitely the economy [suffers]," she explained.
The economy was hit, as some of the shops were closed while others had scaled down their operations during the implementation of the general community quarantine (GCQ) in the region.
NEDA's initial estimate of economic losses wrought by COVID-19 from March 15 to May 31 reached to P18 billion based on the number of firms that applied for assistance at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and number of affected workers.
Since the threat of COVID-19 still exists and that there is still no available vaccine, it is expected that businesses will still not operate at a 100 percent capacity and that operations are would be between 50-80 percent. This would result in a total loss of P47 billion, the lady NEDA-10 director pointed out.
Though the expected loss is huge, Cariño said, "our economy is still strong and it will continue to expand but at a much slower growth rate."
Prior to COVID-19, the economic growth rate of the region was expected to be at 10.8 percent to generate some P800 billion by yearend. However, due to the pandemic, the estimated growth rate for 2020 is now pegged at 3.8 percent.
“Some would really experience substantial decline. But, even with COVID, our economy will continue to expand but at a much lower rate. I hope that our infection will not increase for we might rethink our options and a lockdown might be implemented. If that happens the economy will again slow down,” Cariño concluded. (JAKA/PIA10)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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