INTERNATIONAL think tank Moody’s Analytics said the Philippines’s new strategy against Covid-19—which is still in the works—could potentially bring back the economy to its recovery path.
In an analysis published on Thursday, the research arm of the Moody’s Group recognized the Philippines’s plan to take a more “integrated” approach to managing the economic impact of Covid-19, although it has yet to be officially rolled out by the government.
Earlier this week, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) said they are looking to adopt new measures for the country’s Covid-19 management, including “granular lockdowns” instead of the current wider community restrictions.
“A proposal has been tabled to shift from the strict quarantines now in place to a policy of ‘granular lockdowns,’ which would alternate periods of lockdown across areas, somewhat analogous to rotating groups into and out of office work spaces,” Moody’s Analytics Chief Asia Pacific Economist Steven Cochrane said.
“There are few details on how this will be designed and implemented, but the proposal offers the potential of allowing greater access to shopping and other economic activities and boosting the pace of economic recovery,” the economist added.
“If executed well, this could finally help an economy that has been very sluggish under the weight of severe and lengthy lockdowns,” he further said.
Cochrane also said the proposal to introduce preferred access on public transit, in shopping malls, and in restaurants for those with proof of vaccination can also be a good measure for a country grappling with lockdowns.
“This will generate greater mobility for those vaccinated, which will help bolster economic growth as the vaccination rate rises. It does, however, run the risk of marginalizing those not vaccinated,” the economist said.
“First and most important, additional vaccine doses are being acquired and vaccinations will be universally available to all segments of the population beginning in October. This should slow the pace of Covid-19 and, it is hoped, reduce the severity of infections, at least among those vaccinated,” Cochrane further said.
The economist said, however, that whatever gain there is to be made with the new integrated approach will not be felt until next year.
“This new integrated approach creates some upside potential to the pace of recovery but mostly for 2022, since most of this policy shift will not begin until this year’s final quarter. We have not adjusted our forecast based on these actions, but we will be watching carefully for further details on their scope and execution,” the economist said.
Image courtesy of Nonie Reyes