ING Bank sees lower GDP Q1 growth

ING Bank Manila on Monday cut its first quarter Philippine economic growth forecast to -3.6 percent from the earlier -3.4 percent due to the stricter quarantine measures recently imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“A spike in Covid-19 cases forced authorities to reinstate strict lockdowns in the Philippines’ capital region and surrounding provinces for a week. This development shaves off roughly 0.1 percentage point from our 1Q (first quarter) GDP (gross domestic product) forecast, clouding to recovery efforts,” said ING Bank senior economist Nicholas Mapa.