Growth of the Philippine economy would contract further in the second quarter of 2020, economists projected on Thursday, after the government reported that growth in the first three months sank to 0.2 percent. According to him, contributors to the decline included the slump in external demand, the unlikely recovery of the tourism sector and lower remittances. “Given [Thursday’s] data, we are downgrading our 2020 GDP forecast from -4 percent to -6 percent.”In a separate report, ANZ Research expects economic growth to drop further in April to June. “First-quarter growth was the lowest since 1998, with both the domestic and external sectors taking a sizable hit. It is likely [that] growth falls even further in Q2, reflecting the full impact of the Covid-19-related lockdown,” it said.

Source: Manila Times May 07, 2020 16:47 UTC