I am always flattered when I meet people well-established in their respective professions (those in their 40s to 60s) who tell me that they learned their basic economics from the textbooks I wrote in the 1970s and 1980s for both high school and college students, especially in private schools. The...
President Marcos’ chief economic manager said that streamlined taxes imposed by local government units (LGUs) on businesses enjoying tax perks encourage easier compliance and attract more investments to the Philippines. This comes on the heels of issuing the first joint memorandum circular (JMC)...
Large-scale metallic mining companies in the country have been granted up to two months after the close of each quarter to settle their royalty payments under the new fiscal framework, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). The Marcos administration is implementing the extension to...
State-run Land Bank of the Philippines will eliminate transaction fees for online government payments through the end of the year, a move aimed at easing consumer costs amid persistent global economic pressures and accelerating shift toward digital finance. In a statement on Monday, June 1,...
The updated Philippine–Japan tax treaty is expected to establish clearer and more predictable rules on the taxation of cross-border income, a development seen to benefit more than 245,000 overseas Filipinos (OFs) working and residing in Japan. “By providing clear and predictable rules on the...
Recurring payments from the sale of Nonoc Mining and Industrial Corp.’s assets injected more than ₱600 million into the national coffers in April, marking the highest single-month collection in the 11 months since May 2025. According to the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), the...
The Philippines’ debt as a share of economic output is expected to remain elevated above 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year as the government ramps up borrowings to support its response to the national energy emergency amid the prolonged war in the Middle East. Based on the...
The Philippines and Japan are expected to sign a new double taxation convention (DTC) on the sidelines of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s ongoing state visit to Tokyo. Manila Bulletin learned on Wednesday, May 27, that the Philippine-Japan DTC will possibly be signed before the end of the...
The United States (US) government’s Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has earmarked a $60-million grant for the Philippines focused on the energy sector. Documents discussed during the US aid agency’s economic advisory council meeting last month, which were made public last week, showed that the...
The interagency Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC) has flagged rising risks to the Philippine financial system stemming from the prolonged war in the Middle East, increasing corporate vulnerabilities, and growing household debt, although officials said the country’s banking sector...
Local government units (LGUs) showed a slight uptick in loan requests in April 2026 compared to the same month last year, even as the total financing amount saw a sharp decline to ₱2.7 billion due in part to budget surpluses typical of a non-election period. According to the latest data from the...
The Philippine government and the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are exploring partnerships in digitalization and energy aimed at improving the ease of doing business and accelerating infrastructure development to support economic growth. In a statement on Friday, May 22,...
