Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
WHEN the 1997 Asian crisis happened, many felt the Philippines would be the least affected not because we were so resilient, but partly because we were late to the party so there was less of a bubble to burst compared to our neighbors which had been growing consistently for over a decade and had foolishly borrowed short-term in US dollar for long-term projects. Having been the only Asian member of the Latin American crisis of the early 1980s, we were not foolish enough to repeat the problem, thanks to the prudence of most companies' management and the guidance of then BSP governors Singson and Buenaventura. This bubble part was also because our boom that started with President Ramos' administration had run for about four years only. Now, is our recovery from Covid relative to our neighbors going to have an analogous fate? While our recovery from the Covid-caused recession continues, given we contracted more and opened up later and more slowly, what will happen next? Are we going to have a recession in the US which will lead to a slowdown or worse elsewhere soon after? Will it lead to a recession for us? That is a two-part question, the first being, is a recession coming to the US? If yes, or even a slowdown, how will it affect the Philippines is the second part? Thus, as a result, will we recover to a lesser extent than our neighbors again?