DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez III
MANILA – Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III favors mass testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) but raised the need to improve capacity first.
“It’s a must,” he told journalists in a Viber message Tuesday night.
Asked whether the government has the competence to do this, Dominguez cited the need to build up the capacity for mass testing.
As of April 1, total Covid-19 cases in the country reached 2,311, with 50 patients who have recovered while 96 have died.
Luzon has been placed under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) since March 17 and this will last until April 12, 2020.
Different levels of quarantine have been raised all over the country as municipal and provincial governments become pro-active to prevent the further rise of cases and prevent the virus from infecting their constituents.
There have been talks about the possible extension of the ECQ and Dominguez declined to confirm or deny this saying “the ECQ addresses a health concern which the economic team is not qualified to comment on.”
He said if ever the quarantine period is extended, this is “certainly not positive” for the economy.
“But remember that now the goals are to preserve the health of the people, to provide financial support to the people in the informal sector, to support all the front-liners, and to provide liquidity for the economy,” he added.
Among the fiscal measures that the government has put in place to date for Covid-19 response are the allocation of an initial PHP27.1 billion for sectors affected by the global pandemic, and the PHP200 billion that is realigned from this year’s national budget as mandated under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
Monetary measures include the total of 75 basis points cut in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key policy rates, the 200-basis-point reduction in universal and commercial banks’ (U/KBs) reserve requirement ratio (RRR), the purchase of PHP300 billion worth of government securities that will be repaid in a maximum of six-month period, and the operational relief measures for foreign exchange transactions. (PNA)
