In meeting with President Duterte and other Cabinet members Monday night, Dominguez noted that the strict coronavirus quarantine was “holding back” the growth of the local economy.
Except for seven places, the country is largely under the relaxed modified general community quarantine for the month of October as the government moves to revitalize the economy and allow more people to return to work. The country fell into recession after the economy endured a record slump in the second quarter of the year as the pandemic lockdown affected businesses and led to job losses.
On tax collection, he said the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs have collected P1.82 trillion from January 1 to September 31, higher than the estimated P1.68 trillion. “The interests of these loans are very low and the term is very long. So we have to thank our multilateral agencies and countries like Japan who have been providing good financing for us,” he said.