Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020

The findings are based on the survey of 13,878 firms conducted from November 26 to December 10, 2020, to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on firms. This survey builds on a government survey in April 2020 and the World Bank-government joint survey in...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/293391617985073105/Results-from-the-Philippines-COVID-19-Firm-Survey-conducted-in-November-2020-Round-2
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35430
id okr-10986-35430
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spelling okr-10986-354302021-09-21T14:25:18Z Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020 World Bank CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT SALES REVENUE EMPLOYMENT LIQUIDITY SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES MICROENTERPRISES DIGITAL ADOPTION QUARANTINE DEMAND SHOCK SUPPLY CHAIN ACCESS TO FINANCE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT PANDEMIC RESPONSE POLICY RESPONSE The findings are based on the survey of 13,878 firms conducted from November 26 to December 10, 2020, to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on firms. This survey builds on a government survey in April 2020 and the World Bank-government joint survey in July 2020, both of which benefit from a large sample size and present a nationwide representative snapshot of firms in the Philippines. Easing of the community quarantine has led to more businesses reopening (63 percent in November vs. 45 percent in July), but with only a small proportion operating at full capacity (9 percent). While some managers closed businesses in compliance with government regulation (9 percent), others voluntarily closed their businesses (21 percent) despite eased community quarantines. About 7 percent of firms reported to have closed permanently. Reduction in sales has continued for firms. 67 percent of firms reported a reduction in sales between July and November 2020, compared to 88 percent between April and July 2020. The main reason for decreased sales is limited operation (58 percent) and inability of customers to come to establishments (38 percent). Downward adjustments of employment continued in November 2020 (38 percent), albeit at a slower pace than in July 2020 (50 percent). Significant shares of firms also made adjustments on the intensive margin, reducing hours (19 percent) and wages (16 percent). Only 3 percent of firms hired new employees. A large share of firms reported acute liquidity constraints, with reports of not having enough cash and having fallen behind in payments. 66 percent of firms did not have enough cash to pay all costs and payments such as payroll, suppliers, taxes or loan repayment beyond 1 month. Two thirds of firms had adjusted loan repayment terms, and 48 percent of firms were in arrears, with an additional 29 percent expecting to be in arrears by February 2021. Despite firms expressing cautious optimism that sales and employment will increase over the next 3 months, many expect their financial positions to worsen. 2021-04-13T13:36:34Z 2021-04-13T13:36:34Z 2021 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/293391617985073105/Results-from-the-Philippines-COVID-19-Firm-Survey-conducted-in-November-2020-Round-2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35430 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief East Asia and Pacific Philippines
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SALES REVENUE
EMPLOYMENT
LIQUIDITY
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES
MICROENTERPRISES
DIGITAL ADOPTION
QUARANTINE
DEMAND SHOCK
SUPPLY CHAIN
ACCESS TO FINANCE
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
POLICY RESPONSE
spellingShingle CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SALES REVENUE
EMPLOYMENT
LIQUIDITY
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES
MICROENTERPRISES
DIGITAL ADOPTION
QUARANTINE
DEMAND SHOCK
SUPPLY CHAIN
ACCESS TO FINANCE
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
POLICY RESPONSE
World Bank
Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
Philippines
description The findings are based on the survey of 13,878 firms conducted from November 26 to December 10, 2020, to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on firms. This survey builds on a government survey in April 2020 and the World Bank-government joint survey in July 2020, both of which benefit from a large sample size and present a nationwide representative snapshot of firms in the Philippines. Easing of the community quarantine has led to more businesses reopening (63 percent in November vs. 45 percent in July), but with only a small proportion operating at full capacity (9 percent). While some managers closed businesses in compliance with government regulation (9 percent), others voluntarily closed their businesses (21 percent) despite eased community quarantines. About 7 percent of firms reported to have closed permanently. Reduction in sales has continued for firms. 67 percent of firms reported a reduction in sales between July and November 2020, compared to 88 percent between April and July 2020. The main reason for decreased sales is limited operation (58 percent) and inability of customers to come to establishments (38 percent). Downward adjustments of employment continued in November 2020 (38 percent), albeit at a slower pace than in July 2020 (50 percent). Significant shares of firms also made adjustments on the intensive margin, reducing hours (19 percent) and wages (16 percent). Only 3 percent of firms hired new employees. A large share of firms reported acute liquidity constraints, with reports of not having enough cash and having fallen behind in payments. 66 percent of firms did not have enough cash to pay all costs and payments such as payroll, suppliers, taxes or loan repayment beyond 1 month. Two thirds of firms had adjusted loan repayment terms, and 48 percent of firms were in arrears, with an additional 29 percent expecting to be in arrears by February 2021. Despite firms expressing cautious optimism that sales and employment will increase over the next 3 months, many expect their financial positions to worsen.
format Brief
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
title_short Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
title_full Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
title_fullStr Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of COVID-19 on Firms in the Philippines : Results from the Philippines COVID-19 Firm Survey conducted in November 2020
title_sort impacts of covid-19 on firms in the philippines : results from the philippines covid-19 firm survey conducted in november 2020
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/293391617985073105/Results-from-the-Philippines-COVID-19-Firm-Survey-conducted-in-November-2020-Round-2
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35430
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