EXPLAINER – How worried should we be about the Omicron variant?

December 15, 2021 | 3:34 pm

The Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in 77 countries since it was first identified three weeks ago, fueling concerns that its large number of mutations will help it spread faster and evade protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection.

Scientists await answers to these important questions:

IS IT MORE CONTAGIOUS?

The fast-spreading Delta variant remains dominant worldwide, and it is unclear whether Omicron is inherently more contagious than its predecessor, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a brief issued on Sunday.

Early data suggests that the new variant is spreading faster than previous versions of the virus. In South Africa, the UK and Denmark, the number of new Omicron infections has been doubling every two days – “an alarming rate of growth,” according to Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.

The Omicron variant accounted for about 44% of infections in London on Monday and was expected to become the dominant version of the virus there within 48 hours.

WHAT TYPE OF ILLNESS DOES IT CAUSE?

Scientists say it is still too early to know whether Omicron causes more or less severe COVID-19 than previous versions of the virus.

In South Africa, scientists have said they see no sign that the Omicron variant is causing more severe illness. Hospital data found that COVID-19 admissions were rising sharply in more than half of the country’s nine provinces, but there have been comparatively few deaths and indicators such as the median length of hospital stay have been reassuring.

Among the 43 people identified as having the Omicron variant in the United States, most reported mild symptoms including coughing, congestion and fatigue.

People so far infected with Omicron have largely reported mild illness likely because many have at least some immunity from vaccinations and/or prior infection.

A more clear picture of Omicron’s severity will come from analyzing outcomes for a larger number of infected people, particularly older, unvaccinated, previously uninfected patients.

CAN IT RE-INFECT PEOPLE OR EVADE VACCINE PROTECTION?

The Omicron variant has about 50 mutations not seen in combination before, including more than 30 mutations on the spike protein the coronavirus uses to attach to human cells. Most current COVID-19 vaccines target that spike protein, making the cluster of mutations potentially problematic.

In its latest report, the WHO said there were early signs that vaccinated and previously infected people would not build enough antibodies to ward off an infection from Omicron.

A small study from a South African research institute suggested that Omicron could partially evade protection from two doses of the Pfizer Inc vaccine. The drugmaker and its partner, BioNTech, said a third booster dose of their vaccine was better able to neutralize Omicron in the laboratory. These findings will need to be compared with how vaccinated people fare in the real world against Omicron.

A UK government brief on Friday said early estimates suggest vaccine protection against symptomatic disease is significantly lower with Omicron infection compared to the Delta variant, although a booster dose led to vaccine effectiveness of 70% to 75% soon after the extra shot.

ARE CURRENT TREATMENTS STILL EFFECTIVE?

Omicron’s mutations are expected to reduce the effectiveness of certain manufactured antibody treatments, including some sold by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. Drugmaker GSK last week said its antibody-based COVID-19 therapy with U.S. partner Vir Biotechnology was effective against the Omicron variant in lab tests.

Experimental antiviral pills – such as Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid and Merck & Co Inc’s molnupiravir – target parts of the virus that are not changed in Omicron. These drugs are likely to become important weapons if vaccine-induced and natural immunity are threatened. – REUTERS

Netflix, Spotify multiple category winners at Twitter’s brand awards for 2021

December 15, 2021 | 2:14 pm

By Patricia Mirasol

Netflix and Spotify are multiple category winners in Twitter’s #BestOfTweets 2021 Southeast Asia (SEA) Awards. The Dec. 14 awards presentation recognized the brand campaigns that caught the attention of people on the social media platform across SEA this year.

The awards garnered about 200 campaign nominations — a testament to Twitter’s partnership with brands, said Yu Sasamoto, Twitter’s vice-president for JAPAC (Australia, Greater China, Japan, India, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and South Korea).

“It was a rewarding year for Twitter from a business perspective, as we saw a 37% increase in global revenue as compared to the previous year,” he said at the virtual event. “Two hundred eleven million people actively use Twitter around the world, and [a lot are] in Southeast Asia.”

Netflix, a California-headquartered subscription streaming service, snagged these country-wide awards: @NetflixID (Netflix Indonesia) for its Army of the Dead Twitter launch, @NetflixMY (Netflix Malaysia) for its Money Heist Twitter launch, and also @netflixth (Netflix Thailand) and NetflixMY under the most tweeted about brands category.

Music streaming service Spotify, on the other hand, won the region-wide award for Best Brand Voice with @SpotifyKDaebak, an account for everything K-pop with over 370,000 followers. It also won the country-wide most tweeted about brands category for the Philippines (@Spotify_PH), and the best #OnlyOnTwitter category for @SpotifyThailand’s customized solutions that enable Thais to support local artists and learn about the news.

“While everyone is unique, we are all connected in our shared interests,” added Daniela Bogoricin, Asia Pacific director of Twitter Next, in the said event.

PHILIPPINE WINNERS
At the country level, Twitter announced the #BestofTweets awards to the following Philippine winners:

Best Campaign for Driving Positive Change in Society – @UnileverPhils for its #Shop2Give campaign that supports Filipino children in need through UNICEF, as well as underprivileged communities through Gawad Kalinga.

Best Brand Voice – @unionbankph for its #WillUBMine campaign which demonstrated how the bank cared for its customers through its customer service.

Best Virtual Event – @LazadaPH for its Branded Notifications campaign that sent customer deals in the lead up to big shopping day sales.

Best Use of Video – @Viu_Ph for its #TagDubonViu campaign, a video series showing the reactions of different personalities as they watched dramas in Tagalog.

Best Campaign from a Newcomer – @byscosmetics_ph for its SKIN by BYS skincare launch that connected to the K-pop fandom through cultural references and a K-drama star ambassador.

Most Tweeted about Brand – @Spotify_PH for leading the music discourse by leaning in their audience’s interests, and wrapping their brand into the conversation.

Best Launch on Twitter – @KFCPhilippines for its launch of its Double Down all-meat burger, whose focus on the burger’s ingredients drove fans to tweet that they deserved it.

Best Connection to Culture – @PondsPH for connecting with the local K-pop community, the third biggest worldwide, by tapping a K-pop star for their latest product, the Pond’s Triple Glow Serum.

Best #OnlyOnTwitter – @TourismPHL, for using over 30 emojis to match 30 local destinations, each with customized replies, images, and landing pages.

The best brands on Twitter don’t tweet like brands on Twitter, according to Preetha Athrey, acting head of marketing for Twitter’s Asia Pacific region. “It takes an authentic brand voice to build a community and connect on Twitter,” she said.

Filinvest Land wins at Dot Property Philippines Awards 2021

December 15, 2021 | 2:00 pm

Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) marks another milestone by bagging the Best Developer Award for North Luzon and Mindanao categories in the recently concluded Dot Property Philippines Awards 2021. These awards recognize the valuable contributions of FLI to the advancement of the regions.

“Thank you, Dot Property, for recognizing our developments in North Luzon and Mindanao. We are truly grateful for this wonderful honor. We would also like to thank our employees, business partners, service providers, and the rest of the Filinvest family whose efforts enabled us to succeed and thrive even during the pandemic,” said Vince Lawrence L. Abejo, the first senior vice-president and chief sales and marketing officer of FLI. “Wherever we are, we follow the very same ethos that has guided Filinvest through numerous successes in its over 50 years of experience — creating green and sustainable communities.”

FLI boasts of a strong presence in four key areas in North Luzon — Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and, most recently, Pangasinan — building on the successes it has begun in the Filinvest New Clark City and the Mimosa+ Leisure City.

Meanwhile, in Mindanao, FLI is present in Davao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Koronadal, and Zamboanga, with properties ranging from mid-rise condo communities and subdivisions to exclusive island vacation homes.

“Nurturing a diverse property portfolio in over 250 key areas nationwide is our way of reaching out to our fellow Filipinos and making them feel how it is to own their own homes. Filinvest truly builds the Filipino dream,” added Mr. Abejo.

After its one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dot Property Philippines Awards returned to celebrate the resilience of the property sector. Dot Property is a digital media company that drives a network of nine property portal websites and offline media throughout Asia to honor the absolute best projects, developers, and companies that contribute to the real estate sector.

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Philippines detects first 2 cases of Omicron coronavirus variant

December 15, 2021 | 1:54 pm

MANILA – The Philippines has detected two imported cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant of concern, its first reported cases, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.The two Omicron variant cases, detected from 48 samples sequenced on Dec. 14, were currently isolated in a quarantine facility, it said in a statement. — Reuters

Australian mining state passes Aboriginal heritage protection law

December 15, 2021 | 11:05 am

MELBOURNE – Western Australia’s parliament passed legislation late on Tuesday aiming to better protect Aboriginal heritage in the mining state, however indigenous groups said it did not go far enough and are now counting on changes at the national level.

Indigenous heritage protection has become a major issue after global miner Rio Tinto in 2020 legally destroyed culturally significant rock shelters dating back more than 46,000 years for an iron ore mine, sparking public and investor outrage.

Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan said the new legislation, which overhauled a 1972 law, took a respectful approach to managing Aboriginal cultural heritage in a state rich in mineral and energy resources on their land.

“Finding a balance between the protection of that rich cultural heritage and delivering on the economic potential of natural resources to ensure our state‘s continuing prosperity is crucial,” McGowan said in a statement.

The state said the new law is the only Aboriginal heritage legislation in Australia to require that Aboriginal people give “informed consent” for agreements.

One of the main concerns raised by Aboriginal groups is that the legislation keeps the final say over development decisions with a government minister in cases where a developer and traditional owners cannot agree terms.

“This will be business as usual on our sacred sites, which leads to the continued destruction and desecration of Aboriginal cultural heritage,” National Native Title Council Chairman Kado Muir said in a statement.

The state‘s Chamber of Minerals and Energy has backed the legislation but said the next step of setting out regulations within the new framework would be tough.

“Change of this scale is complex, and the challenge ahead to deliver on the potential set out in the bill should not be underestimated,” the chamber’s chief executive Paul Everingham said in a statement in November.

An Australian inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge recommended a new national legal framework and for Aboriginal people to be the top decision makers on heritage issues.

Aboriginal groups are now counting on federal legislation to go further than the Western Australia law. – REUTERS

S.Korea considers tightening COVID-19 rules as new cases climb to daily record

December 15, 2021 | 11:03 am

SEOUL – South Korea reported 7,850 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday, its highest daily total, as breakthrough infections among those already vaccinated continue to spike, with the number of patients in serious condition also reaching a fresh high at 964.

Daily tallies of infections shot past 7,000 for the first time last week, just days after passing the 5,000 mark, putting ever greater strains on the country’s medical capacity.

Total infections in the pandemic so far have risen to 536,495, including 128 cases of the Omicron variant, with 4,456 deaths, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum warned on Wednesday that the government is considering reimposing strict distancing curbs including a ban on gatherings and a curfew on dining in eating establishments. An official announcement is expected on Friday.

South Korea has fully vaccinated more than 94% of its adults so far, and is accelerating its ongoing campaign promoting booster shots by shortening intervals for all ages.

But the number of new cases has been spiralling since authorities eased distancing rules last month as part of a ‘living with COVID–19‘ policy. – REUTERS

Sinovac shot provides inadequate shield for Omicron, Hong Kong study says

December 15, 2021 | 11:02 am

The vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech Ltd., one of the most widely used in the world, does not provide sufficient antibodies to neutralize the omicron variant, said Hong Kong researchers in initial lab findings that may have sweeping consequences for the millions of people relying on the Chinese shot to protect them against COVID-19.

Among a group of 25 people fully vaccinated with Sinovac’s shot, which is called Coronavac, none showed sufficient antibodies in their blood serum to neutralize the omicron variant, said a statement from a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong released late Tuesday night.

In a separate group of 25 fully vaccinated with the messenger RNA shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, five of them had neutralizing ability against the new variant, the scientists said. That’s in line with findings released last week by the companies, who said a third shot would be sufficient to protect against omicron.

Led by Kwok-Yung Yuen, the highly respected professor in infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, the study of 50 people has been accepted for publication in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and is available online as a pre-print.

While much is still unknown about how Sinovac’s shot reacts to omicron — including how T cells, the immune system’s weapon against virus-infected cells, will respond — the findings are a blow to those who have received the 2.3 billion doses of Coronavac shipped out, mostly in China and the developing world. With omicron seen to be at least four times as transmissible as the delta variant in a Japan study, the prospect of having to re-vaccinate against the new strain will set back the world’s efforts to exit the pandemic.

If Sinovac is found in more conclusive studies to be ineffective against omicron, China, which has managed to insulate the vast majority of its people from COVID-19 with closed borders and strict containment measures, faces the biggest threat from the new variant, said experts. The government has given out 2.6 billion homegrown shots — many of them Coronavac — to its population of 1.4 billion people, but now faces the prospect of having to develop new vaccines and rolling them out again before it can shift away from its current isolationist stance.

Among other countries using Coronavac, previous infection waves would have conferred some natural immunity that will help ensure “no major impact” from omicron, said Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong.

But the populations in mainland China and Hong Kong have experienced no large-scale infection before, leaving them vulnerable.

“The Chinese authorities have worked hard to have a high vaccination rate across the country but the mutability of the virus means that the impact of those efforts has been significantly reduced,” said Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong who has edited several books on foreign policy and public health.

“The two-fold challenge now facing China is how to ensure that their population is again protected from omicron and any future mutations, plus managing the flows of goods and people over their borders when the rest of the world is moving to live with the virus,” he said.

The country has detected two omicron cases so far in returning travelers, with one of them being discovered over two weeks after he entered China.

The Hong Kong research team has exported the isolated omicron virus to China’s government and vaccine manufacturers for development of the vaccines targeting the new variant, they said. Sinovac said last week that it was studying how its vaccine holds up against omicron but gave no timeline for releasing results. The Beijing-based company did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the Hong Kong University findings.

The scientists also advised members of the public to get a third vaccine dose as soon as possible, while awaiting the next generation of shots. But whether a third dose of the present Sinovac vaccine will improve the neutralizing antibody response against the omicron variant remains to be determined, they said.

Antibodies, which the researchers studied, are one important arm of the immune response that protect people from infection. The other arm of the immune response is cell mediated immunity — known as T-cell response — which can protect people from serious illness and death. — Bloomberg

Cambodia detects first case of Omicron coronavirus variant

December 15, 2021 | 11:02 am

PHNOM PENH – Cambodia has detected the country’s first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a local woman who had travelled from Ghana, the ministry of health said.

The 23-year old woman had returned from Ghana via Dubai and Bangkok, the ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The woman, who was 15 weeks pregnant, had been admitted to hospital for treatment, it said.

The Omicron variant first detected in South Africa and Hong Kong last month has now been reported by over 70 countries and is probably present in most worldwide, but should not be dismissed as “mild”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian nation reopened its borders last month to vaccinated tourists after achieving one of Asia’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rates, with more than 88% of its 16 million people now inoculated. – REUTERS

U.S. cybersecurity officials see mainly low-impact attacks from logging flaw, so far

December 15, 2021 | 10:59 am

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. agency charged with defending the country against hacking said on Tuesday the majority of attacks it has seen using a recently disclosed flaw in widely used open-source software were minor, with many of them seeking to hijack computing power to mine cryptocurrency.

Officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said they had not confirmed reports by multiple security companies of ransomware installations or attempts by other governments to steal secrets.

“We are not seeing widespread, highly sophisticated intrusion campaigns,” Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, said in a call with reporters.

But he warned the threat would continue to evolve and the agency was still working to assemble reliable information on what types of software were subject to the attacks.

He said it was possible widespread consumer devices such as routers were vulnerable and his unit within the Department of Homeland Security was working with vendors to have them deploy fixes where needed.

The flaw was found in a common logging tool, known as Log4j, and it is carried forward by at least hundreds of other programs that rely on the tool. Goldstein said the flaw is easy to exploit.

Although a patch in the tool has been available since Dec. 6, many of those other programs also have to implement the patch to ensure an attacker cannot get deep network access.

Under recently granted powers, CISA has directed all federal agencies to install patches as they become available.

Goldstein said there have been no reports of intrusions using the vulnerability in the government, but CISA expects “all manner of adversaries” to seek to exploit the flaw.

The logging function allows users to submit live code referring to an outside repository, which the program will then seek out and install. Hackers can use that to take control of the servers, which may have access to other machines with more valuable data or network powers.

Though the flaw has existed in the free Log4j program for years, it was recently discovered by a researcher at Chinese tech company Alibaba and reported to the group of volunteers who maintain the program. Open discussion within the Chinese security company was detected and some exploitation of the flaw began before the Apache Software Foundation could issue the patch.

Goldstein said it was “concerning” any time a flaw is exploited before a patch is out. Under recent Chinese regulations, some security professionals must report their findings to the government quickly, often before patches are ready.- REUTERS

DBCC sees faster 2021 GDP growth

December 15, 2021 | 12:36 am

Economic activity is expected to improve in the fourth quarter as mobility curbs are further eased. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Senior Reporter

ECONOMIC MANAGERS raised the gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection to 5-5.5% for this year, citing the continued easing of lockdowns and the uptick in business activity.

The interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) at a press briefing on Tuesday said it had raised the GDP growth target from the downgraded 4-5% goal given in August.

“As we continuously relax restrictions and increase mobility, economic performance is expected to accelerate further in the last quarter of the year,” the economic team said after a special meeting on Tuesday.

The DBCC expressed optimism that the country’s GDP would “return to its pre-pandemic level by 2022.”

The medium-term growth targets were kept at 7-9% for 2022, and 6-7% for 2023 and 2024.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the government is still waiting for health experts’ conclusions on the effects of the Omicron variant.

“So far, what is important is that we control our borders so that we allow the core majority to continue a safe living within the borders,” he said at the news briefing.

“The (COVID-19) cases have been falling significantly. Severe and critical cases are very low.”

The Health department reported 235 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total active cases to 10,526.

DBCC said the 2021 inflation would hit 4.3%-4.5% from the previous 2-4% estimate, while the 2-4% forecast was kept for 2022 to 2024.

The foreign exchange rate was revised to P49-50 a dollar from P48-53.

The DBCC also raised the growth target for exported goods to 16% this year from the 10% it projected at the July meeting, and kept the 6% annual growth forecasts for 2022-2024.

Imported goods are expected to grow by 30% this year, higher than the 12% seen previously.

The price of Dubai crude oil per barrel is now projected at $68-70 this year from the previous projection of $50-70 per barrel from 2021 to 2024.

“The assumption for the price of Dubai crude oil per barrel was revised upwards to $60 to $80 per barrel for 2022 to 2024. This is mainly due to the optimistic demand outlook for oil as the global economy gradually rebounds in the medium term,” the economic team said.

The DBCC increased its revenue outlook to P3.027 trillion this year, higher than the programmed P2.881 trillion, due to increased economic activity and improved digitalization by revenue agencies.

Revenue projections for the next three years were raised to P3.3 trillion (from P3.29 trillion) in 2022, P3.62 trillion (from 3.59 trillion) in 2023, and P4.049 trillion (from P4 trillion) in 2024.

The DBCC kept its spending projection of P4.95 trillion for 2022, and slightly raised spending to P5.06 trillion (from P5.02 trillion) in 2023 and P5.35 trillion (from P5.3 trillion) in 2024.

Budget Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie L. Canda said the combination of higher-than-expected revenues and lower-than-expected disbursements had affected spending this year.

“Some of our disbursement patterns — for instance for travel, for training — have been put on hold as a result of this pandemic and we haven’t anticipated that. That’s why disbursements are not as high as we expected them to be,” she said.

The 2021 disbursement would be 9.6% higher year on year, the economic team said.

“This is mainly attributed to the accelerated spending performance seen in infrastructure and other capital outlays, personnel services, transfers to local government units (LGUs), and equity and interest payments,” DBCC said.

The deficit ceiling was set at 8.2% of GDP this year, lower than the 9.5% ratio previously adopted.

Meanwhile, the DBCC raised the deficit threshold to 7.7% of GDP in 2022, 6.1% in 2023, and 5.1% in 2024. The deficit ceiling was previously pinned at 7.5% of GDP in 2022, 5.9% in 2023, and 4.9% in 2024.

“While the threat of new COVID-19 variants may persist in the short term, we are now in a much stronger position to manage possible spikes in cases and safely reopen the economy to Alert Level 1 in January 2022,” economic managers said.

The Cabinet-level DBCC is composed of heads of the Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance, as well as the Executive Secretary. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also sits as the committee’s resource institution.

ADB raises PHL economic outlook for this year, 2022

December 15, 2021 | 12:35 am

Shoppers look for bargains at a market in Taytay, Rizal amid the holiday season. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE ASIAN Development Bank (ADB) raised its Philippine growth forecast for this year and 2022, amid a heightened coronavirus vaccination drive and a plunge in new cases.

In the supplement to the Asian Development Outlook 2021, the multilateral lender said it now expects the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 5.1% this year, from 4.5% given in September. It exceeds the government’s downgraded 4-5% target this year.

For 2022, GDP is expected to rise by 6%, from the previous projection of 5.5%. This is below the government’s 7-9% goal.

“The Philippine economy has shown impressive resilience,” ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Growth momentum has clearly picked up on the back of the government’s vigorous drive to vaccinate Filipinos against the COVID-19 virus. Public spending on infrastructure and continued vaccination of the population will help the country further accelerate its recovery in 2022.”

A 5.1% GDP growth this year would reverse the record 9.6% contraction in 2020, but is still lower than the pre-pandemic 6.1% expansion in 2019.

The multilateral bank said the country’s economic performance in the third quarter was a surprise as it expanded by 7.1% year on year.

Third-quarter growth was lower than 12% in the preceding quarter after lockdowns were reimposed to contain a Delta-driven surge in COVID-19 cases.

“Vaccination has allowed the economy to slowly reopen, boosting consumer and business confidence,” ADB said.

The government has accelerated its vaccine rollout and allowed people to move more freely. Daily COVID-19 infections have also dropped from the peak in September.

About 36.59% of Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Johns Hopkins University tracker showed.

Meanwhile, the ADB raised the inflation outlook for the Philippines to 4.4% for 2021 and 3.7% for next year due to soaring oil prices. These are higher than the September forecast of 4.1% and 3.5% for 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Inflation in November eased to a four-month low of 4.2%, but remained higher than the central bank’s 3.3%-4.1% forecast for the month.

The ADB’s projection is higher than the central bank’s 2-4% target for the year.

THREAT FROM OMICRON
The ADB reduced its growth forecast for developing Asia to 7% (from 7.1%) this year and to 5.3% (from 5.4%) in 2022, amid uncertainty brought by the emergence of the Omicron variant.

“The main risk to the outlook remains a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Recent developments in Europe show that extensive virus outbreaks can occur even in highly vaccinated countries and force governments to retighten mobility restrictions. The emergence of the highly mutated Omicron variant brings additional uncertainty,” the ADB said.

“As it appears to be significantly more transmissible than earlier variants, its economic impact could be substantial.”

In developing Asia, the bank noted new COVID-19 cases daily averaged 50,000 as of Nov. 30, 71% lower than the peak in August. Globally, new cases are on the rise, fueled by the new wave of infections in Europe.

For Southeast Asia, the ADB trimmed its outlook to 3% from 3.1% this year, but hiked its projection for next year to 5.1% from 5%.

“Subregional growth slowed modestly in Q3 2021 as mobility restrictions tightened in the quarter to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant,” it said.

Moody’s Analytics said the global outlook is now “less exuberant” as the Omicron variant increases uncertainty in the near term, although the recovery momentum was unlikely to be derailed.

“The Omicron variant has driven (business) sentiment lower, as have supply-chain disruptions eating into inventories and hurting capacity to meet increased demand. While the economic recovery has yielded improved sales and employment intentions, caution has increased,” Moody’s Analytics Senior APAC Economist Katina Ell said in an analysis.

“Expectations into next year are mixed as uncertainty remains high.” — Jenina P. Ibañez

Gov’t expects lower domestic borrowings

December 15, 2021 | 12:34 am

THE NATIONAL Government (NG) will borrow less from the domestic market next year to make way for private sector lending, the Bureau of the Treasury said.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon on Tuesday said the government would get 77% of its borrowing program from domestic lenders in 2022.

“We are borrowing less and reducing domestic (borrowings) at 77% instead of 81% to make room for the private sector with renewed lending following the opening of the economy,” she said in a Viber message to reporters.

Going into 2022, Ms. De Leon said the market would be looking at signals from the US Federal Reserve on a possible early rate liftoff and tapering of bond purchases.

The market would also watch the December inflation and the results of the Monetary Board meeting on Thursday, she said.

“Plus of course any update on the Omicron variant and the efficacy of vaccines against it,” Ms. De Leon said.

The US Federal Reserve would probably quicken the tapering of its bond-buying program, Reuters reported on Monday.

Philippine inflation in November eased to a four-month low of 4.2%, but remained higher than the central bank’s 3.3%-4.1% forecast for the month.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is widely expected to keep policy rates unchanged at its last policy-setting meeting on Thursday.

Gross borrowings by the National Government had reached P2.75 trillion as of end-October, preliminary data from the Treasury bureau showed.

Year to date, the government’s debt accounted for 91% of the P3-trillion borrowing plan for the entire year.

For the first 10 months of the year, gross domestic borrowings stood at P2.29 trillion, while gross external borrowings reached P518.71 billion.

The government borrows from local and foreign creditors to finance a budget deficit that has widened since last year after a coronavirus pandemic stalled the economy and pulled down tax collections.

This year’s budget deficit is expected to reach 9.3% of gross domestic product. — Jenina P. Ibañez