GDP Report: Economic Fallout

August 14, 2020

The Philippines has officially landed into a recession after the GDP fell in two consecutive quarters and this could put the BSP under more pressure to cut policy rates in their August 20 meeting to support the recovery. PH GDP posted a record slump of 16.5% in Q2 due to a quarter long lockdown that halted economic activity. This is a deeper dive from the downwardly revised -0.7% in Q1 and plunged the economy to a steep contraction of 9% in H1. First Metro expects the economy to shrink by 8% to 9% for full year 2020.