The Duterte administration must not crow prematurely on the 11.8% growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2021 which is not good enough.
The growth rate in the second quarter this year should have been 20.5% to equal the GDP in the second quarter of 2019 before the pandemic.
After plunging to a negative 9.5% in 2020, the country needs an annual growth rate of 10.5% in 2021 to bring back the economy to the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
This ideal 10.5% GDP growth this year is unattainable considering that there was a negative 3.9% growth in the first quarter of 2021 and lower growth rates are expected in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year due to the lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 Delta variant.
Even the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) projects an annual GDP growth of only 7.0% in 2021.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN