MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The incessant rain that has caused severe flooding in parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces is expected to have an immediate negative impact on the prices of goods as well as Filipino’s incomes.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan also told Rappler that the rain will cause supply chains to experience disruptions due to floods and damaged infrastructure.
“As to how much damage there is, we still do not know because the data is not yet available. We don’t know when we can come up with estimates because it depends on how fast the information is made available to us,” Balisacan said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning.
Ondoy-like damage?
Damages brought by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 comes to mind.
That weather disturbance inundated the Philippine capital and caused the reduction of 4 percentage points off the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009.
Without typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, the government said growth in 2009 would have reached 2%. The actual growth in that year was only 0.9%.
The typhoons cost the country around P38.316 billion and damaged 212,918 houses and 2,835 schools in 2009.
Rain: A bane in the short-term
Cid L. Terosa, economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), said the non-stop rain will increase the inflation of goods, particularly food items in the short term.
(The scheduled release of July inflation data on Tuesday, August 7, was moved as the government offices call off work.)
Damage to property owned and goods and services produced will also lead to lower quality of life in the short-term.
“Since business activities will be slowed down, the production of goods and services can suffer,” Terosa told Rappler. “The rains could prove to be a bane.”
In the long-term, Terosa said the rains may be a boost to economic growth if the damage is greater on families that can afford replacement purposes, this will increase domestic consumption.
It can be noted that the Philippine economy is heavily dependent on consumption. Private consumption can account for as much as 70% of GDP. – Rappler.com
For more weather updates, visit the #WeatherAlert Microsite.
Everyone is encouraged to help out. Check this list of evacuation centers and relief operations in Metro Manila for places near you.
More in #WeatherAlert:
- PHOTOS: PH capital, nearby cities at a standstill in floods
- Filipino values emerge in deluge
- 4 areas in Luzon under state of calamity
- Flooding in Laguna may last 2 months – DPWH
- Southwest monsoon causing heavy rain over Luzon
- 20,000 displaced in Metro Manila floods
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