The economy is showing some pockets of recovery after slumping in the second quarter at the height of a nationwide lockdown. Such early signs of recovery after the economy started to reopen in the third quarter are indeed encouraging and confirm many observations that the worst is over for the Philippines.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III himself is upbeat on the Philippine recovery, especially if mobility restrictions are further eased in the fourth quarter to allow more people to safely return to work while complying with minimum health standards.
The finance chief measures recovery in job numbers. The unemployment rate spiked to 17.7 percent in April but improved to 10 percent in July when lockdowns were eased and more people were allowed to go back to work. Mr. Dominguez believes the economy will make a sharp rebound in 2021 judging from the pick-up in activities after the government eased up on quarantine rules.
A key economic indicator and the performance of at least two conglomerates seem to back up Dominguez’s optimism.
Exports climbed 2.2 percent in September to $6.22 billion from $6.08 billion in the same month last year, the first time they rose since the government declared a community lockdown in March to contain the spread of COVID-19. Exports tumbled 24.7 percent in March, 49.9 percent in April, 26.9 percent in May, 12.5 percent in June, 9.1 percent in July and 12.8 percent in August.
San Miguel Corp. registered a net income of P15 billion in the third quarter, a turnaround from the P4-billion loss it incurred in the first two quarters, following the easing of restrictions in July. The conglomerate, though, is far from returning to its pre-pandemic levels. Its nine-month profit is down 73 percent to P10.75 billion from P39.7 billion in the same period last year as net sales declined 30 percent to P531.1 billion from P758.6 billion.
PLDT Inc., meanwhile, announced a 23-percent growth in net income in the first nine months to P19.7 billion from P15.99 billion a year ago. Its third-quarter profit jumped nearly 100 percent as work-from-home arrangements boosted the company’s data and broadband businesses.
The re-opening of the economy clearly has contributed to better corporate earnings and the pick-up in some business activities. Authorities, thus, should do more to re-open the Philippine economy to create jobs and give hope to thousands of small scale and medium enterprises that have suffered the brunt of the pandemic.