The Philippine government is seeking a one-year extension and partial reallocation of a World Bank loan that has been partly funding the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) since 2021. A World Bank restructuring paper showed that the Department of Finance (DOF) on Sept. 17 requested the...
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested $7 million in fintech firm First Circle to expand digital financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines. The IFC board approved the project on June 13, signed on June 28, and invested the...
The Department of Finance (DOF) expects to generate P102.12 billion over the next five years from a new law that imposes a 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on both local and foreign digital service providers (DSPs). According to the DOF, the estimated revenues to be collected from 2025 to 2029 will...
A whopping scale of capital mobilization that will reach as much as $500 billion (roughly P27.5 trillion) will have to be concretized so the country’s energy systems will be substantially decarbonized, according to the Department of Energy. As cited by the energy department, “the Philippines is...
The 2.2-hectare Mile Long property in Makati City will likely be up for grabs among three interested developers from the private sector, whose deep pockets would help fill government coffers sans new taxes during the Marcos Jr. administration, as promised by Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto. The...
The Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) vowed to enforce the new law designed to combat smuggling and hoarding of agricultural products, ensuring a stable food supply for Filipinos. Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said that the recently signed Republic Act No. 12022,...
The Senate is ready to receive the copy of the version of the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 which the House of Representatives has approved. Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, made this assurance on Thursday, Sept. 26, after the House...
Philippine debt levels as a share to the economy fell across-the-board in the first half of 2024, according to the latest data from the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF), underscoring the "double-edged sword" wrought by the previously elevated interest rate environment. The...
President Marcos' chief economic manager expects further appreciation of the peso against the US dollar, driven by increased remittance inflows during the upcoming holiday season. In a briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 24, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto explained that the local currency typically...
This year's US presidential election and the Philippines' midterm polls next year, among other geopolitical and climate events, pose risks to near-term economic outlook here and abroad, according to the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF). "Political uncertainties and policy...
The Department of Finance (DOF) has assured Singaporean investors that the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) law will simplify doing business in the Philippines, streamline processes and reduce red tape....
In the first five years of its implementation, fuel marking added to government coffers a total of P988.8 billion in tax revenues, inching closer to the P1-trillion mark with one more year before the program's contract ends. The latest data obtained by Manila Bulletin on Tuesday, Sept. 17, showed...
