Rollout schedule announced for vaccination of minors

The government will conduct the inoculation of minors against COVID-19 in phases to promote vaccine confidence among parents and guardians. The pilot vaccination of minors will cover 12 to 17 age bracket. Minors with comorbidities or health risks will be under the A3 priority group, while the rest will be classified as priority group C. The first phase of the pilot vaccination will start on Oct. 15 and will be done in selected hospitals. Eight hospitals in Metro Manila have registered for the rollout but hospitals from Iloilo and Cebu have also expressed interest to join the pilot.

Easing of restrictions, vax program to boost economic recovery

Refinements on the government’s movement restrictions rules, as well as the strengthened implementation of the vaccination program, are expected to boost economic recovery this year. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Department of Economic Research (DER) managing director Zeno Ronald Abenoja said the accommodative monetary policy of the central bank as a plus to the economic recovery, with the BSP infusing more than PHP2 trillion worth of liquidity since last year through its various measures such as cuts in the policy rates and banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR), and the temporary cash advances to the national government.

Digital payments at 20.1% of 2020 transaction volume

Digital payments made up 20.1% of all transactions last year, a tad higher than the 20% target by the central bank for 2020, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said. Digital payments saw its share in the total transaction volume rise by 10.1 percentage points from the 10% in 2018, Mr. Diokno said. This means one in five payments or a total of 910 million transactions last year were done online, he added.

Fitch, AMRO lower Philippine growth forecast this year as coronavirus persists

The Philippine economy is likely to grow slower than initially expected this year, with Fitch Ratings and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office trimming their forecasts amid the persistent Delta outbreak and sluggish vaccine rollout. Fitch Ratings in a report said it lowered the Philippine gross domestic product growth projection to 4.4% in 2021, from 5% previously. On the other hand, AMRO slashed its GDP forecast for the Philippines to 4.3%, from 6.4% penciled in last June. Both forecasts are closer to the lower end of the government’s 4-5% full-year target, but a reversal of the record 9.6% slump in 2020.

Factory output up 5 months in a row

Preliminary results of the PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed the volume of production index (VoPI) jumping 534.6% year on year in August. This was slightly lower than the revised annual rate of 539.7% in July, but still a significant turnaround from the 82.2% contraction in August last year. Similarly, the value of production index (VaPI), a similar composite indicator in the survey, logged an annual 523.3%. This was slower than the previous month’s 528.7% growth rate, but a reversal of the 83.1% decline last year. The August reading for VoPI and VaPI marked the fifth straight month of growth in manufacturing output.

PHL needs to expand COVID-19 testing outside Luzon, says ADB

The Philippines needs to focus more resources into expanding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing and tracing automation outside Luzon, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB report on the progress of the government’s coronavirus response program for the first half of 2021 found that testing laboratories are concentrated in Luzon, with levels below World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The ADB said that contact tracing done manually by local government units is still inadequate, noting that a national automated system will help reach more communities.

BSP proposes 3% RRR on digital banks

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is proposing to initially align the reserve requirements of digital banks with thrift lenders as both are targeting the same market and offer similar financial products. Under the draft circular, digital banks will be required to comply with all prudential requirements set by the BSP for the conduct of business. These include requirements for corporate governance, risk management (particularly on information technology and cybersecurity), outsourcing, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering, among others. One of the key provisions is that digital banks will have to keep a reserve requirement ratio (RRR) of 3%, which is similar to the current level for thrift lenders. In comparison, the RRR of big banks and rural lenders is pegged at 12% and 2%, respectively.

IMF trims global economic forecast, citing ‘Great Vaccination Divide’

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects global economic growth in 2021 to fall slightly below its July forecast of 6%, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said, citing risks associated with debt, inflation and divergent economic trends in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Ms. Georgieva said the global economy was bouncing back but the pandemic continued to limit the recovery, with the main obstacle posed by the “Great Vaccination Divide” that has left too many countries with too little access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Pilot run of limited face-to-face classes to start Nov. 15

The Department of Education (DepEd) said the implementation of the pilot run of in-person classes will begin on November 15. The pilot will run until the end of January next year. Education officials are targeting to reopen more schools by March. Only 59 public schools have so far passed the Health department's assessment to carry out face-to-face classes. Most are located in the Visayas and Mindanao. Students in these schools, however, will not be required to participate since parental consent is still needed.

Govt eyes booster shots vs COVID-19 for over 1M health workers by November

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. announced supplies are now ready for the booster shots of over a million medical frontliners inoculated in March and April. But before the booster rollout can begin, he said this should first be authorized by the Department of Health (DOH) and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Once given the green light, Galvez said the rollout may start in November. The latest is January 2022, he added.

Nikkei Asia: Philippines ranks last in global COVID recovery index

The Philippines fell to the bottom of the latest Nikkei Asia COVID recovery ranking this month, classifying it as the worst among 121 countries based on the trajectories of their recovery from the pandemic. The new rating came a week after the Philippines also fell to the bottom of Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking. According to the Nikkei Asia's COVID-19 Recovery Index, the Philippines still has one of the lowest vaccination rates since only 30% of the country's population have been fully inoculated against the coronavirus as of Sept. 30. 

EU Biz Summit sees ease of quarantine rules and vaccine certificates help Phl economy

In its recently concluded two-day European-Philippine Business Summit 2021, co-organized and supported by all European Chambers, many critical key topics were discussed to further strengthen European-Philippine trade and investments relations. During one of the panel discussions, Asec. Mayor expounded on the actions currently being taken by the government. He emphasized that the Philippine government is now focusing its efforts on appropriately implementing granular lockdown measures, where instead of locking down big areas, the restrictions will be focused on smaller spaces such as a street or a barangay where the COVID patient or surge is present. This measure is being undertaken now to prevent drastically limiting people’s movement and to keep businesses operational.

Non-monetary measures to address supply-side inflation risks

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the inflation rate in the ninth month this year decelerated to 4.8 percent from the 32-month high of 4.9 percent in the previous month due mainly to slower upticks in the transport index.  It brought the nine-month average to 4.5 percent, above the government’s 2 percent to 4-percent target band. Excluding the volatile food and energy items, core inflation was flat at 3.3 percent compared to the previous month’s level. Average core inflation to date stood at 3.3 percent. 

PHL considering more nationally funded BARMM projects

The government plans to identify more nationally funded programs for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for inclusion in the 2023 national budget, the Department of Finance (DoF) said. Officials representing the national and Bangsamoro governments in the Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) said after a virtual meeting on Sept. 22 that they would engage with their respective Cabinet departments and ministries to identify such programs. Some programs for health facilities, school building, cash grants, and social pension in Bangsamoro are funded by the National Government.

PHL likely to be Asia’s economic laggard in 2022

Moody’s analytics said the Philippines is likely to be the last country in Asia to regain its pre-pandemic economic growth level, which may be seen by the fourth quarter of 2022. In a note, Moody’s Analytics slashed its forecast for Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) to 6.4% in 2022, from 8.8% previously as it expects the number of coronavirus infections to remain high. This is below the government’s 7-9% GDP growth target range. Based on available data from the Johns Hopkins University, only 22.73% or 24.579 million of the Philippine population are fully vaccinated. This is among the lowest rates in Southeast Asia and is only better than Indonesia (19.46%) and Vietnam (10.87%).

VaxCertPH to ease travel of Pinoys going abroad: Duque

The VaxCertPH program, a portal for the issuance of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination certificates to fully inoculated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipinos going abroad, was introduced to the public at SM City Clark here. The VaxCertPH platform can be used for international and domestic travels in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) on digital documentation of Covid-19 certificates. Duque cited the importance of the program, noting that a valid, secured and acceptable certificate even outside the country will spare OFWs and the general traveling public of problems when going abroad.