It might take years for the Philippine economy to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Annette Pelkmans-Balaoing, Co-convenor of the UP CIDS Program on Escaping the Middle-Income Trap: Chains for Change (EMIT C4C), in an ABS-CBN News article published on April 8, 2020.
Speaking at the recent “COVID-19 and the Economy: Challenges and Opportunities” webinar of UP CIDS, Dr. Pelkmans-Balaoing noted that based from data on economic crises, it takes about three to five years before an economy goes back to its level of development prior to crisis. With the Philippines suffering a downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she suggested that “the way to go is to address the pandemic well[;] we’re talking about trying to avoid an economic crisis, the best way is to really suppress the virus.”
Along with Dr. Pelkmans-Balaoing, Dr. Emily Christi Cabegin of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR) and Prof. Rolando Ramon Diaz of the UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI) also spoke during the second offering of the Center’s “Philippine Public Policy in a Time of Pandemic: Confronting the COVID-19 Challenge” webinar series.
Read the rest of the ABS-CBN news article here.