COVID-19 Impact on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises under the Lockdown: Evidence from a Rapid Survey in the Philippines

The novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has brought significant change to people’s lives and business activities nationally, regionally, globally. Philippines took swift action—including enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)—to contain the pandemic launched an emergency subsidy program with massive public spending support disrupted households businesses. strict lockdown ran from mid-March end of May 2020 in national capital region high-risk provinces, causing huge economic losses. Six months after March lockdown, Philippine economy moved recovery stage, but micro, small, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are continuing confront a sharp drop demand revenue. We examine initial impact on MSMEs ECQ measures using evidence obtained rapid nationwide survey conducted mid-April derive policy implications.