The management of risks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and other headwinds will be the key to economic recovery in 2021, acting Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in his yearend statement.
“In 2021, the key to our recovery is to continue managing risks, not to avoid them completely. This way, we can bring back jobs and income sources to enable the far majority of people to also address their non-COVID-19 sicknesses and hunger,” Chua said.
“All economic indicators reveal that with the safe relaxation of community quarantines, incomes and jobs come back,” he said.
Chua, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority also recognized the need to recalibrate strategies in response to the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant and implored the public to continue upholding the minimum health standards and to take the necessary precautions to prevent the transmission of the virus.
“What is clear from our experience this year is that we need to continue working together if we want a better 2021. The losses have been huge and a reversal to stricter community quarantines in 2021 is not an option,” Chua said.