DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez
MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez reported Wednesday that the number of enterprises that closed their operations amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic went down to 10 percent in June.
During the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Lopez said the easing of community quarantine restrictions has allowed more businesses to resume operations whether partial or full.
Establishments that are fully operational in June were at 44 percent, while partially opened but not yet in full capacity was at 46 percent.
When the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus was under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ (MECQ), closed businesses climbed to 16 percent.
However, June numbers are still far prior to the reimposition of ECQ and MECQ in NCR Plus.
Closed businesses in March were only at 4.3 percent, those in partial operation at 39.3 percent, and those in full operation at 56.4 percent.
Aside from a lower number of closed businesses with easing of restrictions, Lopez said the number of companies that reported decline in sales slowed down to 53.8 percent in June from 61.7 percent in May and 67.8 percent in March.
The trade chief said the latest unemployment rate in June at 7.7 percent showed that the impacts of the pandemic have eased as the economy reopens.
Lopez said the movement of the NCR Plus toward general community quarantine has reduced the estimated displaced workers to 765,454 workers from more than 1.4 million displaced workers during the MECQ.
“As we are reopening, we are able to bring back jobs and basically be able to reduce the unemployment figures,” he added. (PNA)
