Philippines’ House Approves $3.3 Billion Pandemic Relief Bill
Philippines’ House Approves $3.3 Billion Pandemic Relief Bill
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The Philippines is nearing a second pandemic relief measure, after the House of Representatives passed a 162 billion-peso ($3.3-billion) bill that would provide subsidy to the unemployed and loans to small businesses.
The proposed law, which was approved by 242 lawmakers, also allocates billions of pesos in realigned funds from this year’s budget and state companies’ savings for pandemic-hit tourism, transport and farm workers. The bill will be reconciled with the Senate’s version worth 140 billion pesos that’s backed by the Finance Department.
The government is seeking to boost the economy that’s facing a contraction of as much as 6.6% this year after plunging into recession last quarter due to lockdowns to stem the virus outbreak that shut businesses and brought record-high unemployment.
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