MANILA – The country’s economic outlook for this year remains rosy, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion said during the Laging Handa public briefing Tuesday.
Concepcion remains optimistic despite the spike of Covid-19 cases following the holidays and the presence of the Omicron variant.
He said his optimism hinges on the rollout of vaccines and booster shots against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“What I can assure you, that I think I am extremely bullish, I am very bullish that 2022 will be definitely a much better year than 2021, why? We have the vaccines; it’s now here in our country,” he said.
Now that the country has ample supply of Covid-19 vaccines, the challenge is to fight vaccine hesitation and encourage those unvaccinated to get their immunity against the virus, the presidential adviser added.
He said the recent decision of Metro Manila mayors to limit the mobility of unvaccinated individuals to essential activities will help in encouraging them to get their Covid-19 shots.
He added that the government should also speed up inoculation for booster shot.
“We want to end this pandemic this year in 2022, so that at least your entrepreneurs and our business can thrive to help the government pay their taxes and the government can continue to fund your vaccines,” Concepcion said.
Concepcion added that the government will not be able to sustain buying vaccines for its people as it requires a huge budget. Eventually, purchasing of vaccines will be in hands of the private sector, but it should be ensured that the vaccines will be made affordable for Filipinos.
“So we will have to have a vibrant economy to be able to afford buying these vaccines,” he said. (PNA)
