Electricity subsidies remain necessary to help vulnerable households and remote communities access power, but the Philippine government needs to improve targeting mechanisms to reduce leakages and ensure long-term sustainability, according to experts at a recent webinar organized by state-run...
The Philippines’ swine population contracted by 1.5 percent in the first quarter to reach its lowest level since 1994, as the local hog sector continues to reel from the impact of African swine fever (ASF). Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the...
The Philippine government has asked the World Bank to restructure and partially cancel over $2.34 million in unused proceeds from a Duterte-era loan supporting the country’s flagship Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), even as the Washington-based multilateral lender cited the project’s...
Foreign investment approvals by the country’s investment promotion agencies (IPAs) surged by more than half in the first quarter of 2026, although overall approved investments—including Filipino-led projects—declined sharply during the period, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority...
Latest numbers from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) serve as a reality check for the Marcos administration, which has been promising a new economic era. The economy grew by just 2.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, a cold shower for a country recently touted as a regional leader....
The country’s economic growth slowed to its weakest pace since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter of the year, prompting the government’s top planner to dismiss concerns that the nation is entering a period of stagflation or reverting to its historical status as the...
The value of the country’s agriculture and fisheries output declined by more than ₱1 billion in the first quarter, following a 0.3 percent contraction, driven by weaker production in crops and fisheries, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Data from the PSA showed that the...
Factory output expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in March, signaling resilience in the Philippines’ manufacturing sector despite the ongoing war in the Middle East that began in late February. The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest Monthly Integrated Survey of...
Headline inflation or annual price increases soared to a 37-month high of 7.2 percent in April, mainly as domestic fuel and food prices skyrocketed due to the global oil price and supply shocks caused by the prolonged war in the Middle East. The Philippine Statistics Authority ’s (PSA) latest...
Factory-gate prices rose at their fastest pace in three years in March, as oil-linked industries drove a sharp acceleration in manufacturing costs at the onset of the war in the Middle East. The latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data on Thursday, April 30, showed that the producer price...
The Philippines’ investment-grade rating remains intact—holding a notch above the minimum investment grade by Fitch (BBB with a negative outlook) and two notches above the minimum by S&P Global (BBB+ with a stable outlook) and Moody’s (Baa2 with a stable outlook). However, former Bangko...
The jump in the March inflation rate has set the stage for a potential 50-basis-point (bp) rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) during the second quarter, according to global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. In an April 7 report obtained by Manila Bulletin, Goldman Sachs...
