GDP growth declined slightly by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020. It is the first negative real GDP growth since 1998’s El Nino and the Asian Financial Crisis. The government imposed a lockdown in an effort to curb the transmission of the disease. This, however, comes with a price.
The restrictions in the movement of people and the stoppage of big part of business operations dampened domestic demand. Its impact on tourism, manufacturing, livelihood, and employment was severe as the lockdown extended up to the second quarter of 2020. To address the dual impact of the pandemic in the health and economic sectors, the government launched its 4-pillar socio-economic strategy.