While the Marcos administration’s economic team has widened its full-year growth target for 2025, it stated that the worst-case scenario for the Philippine economy next year is a slowdown to six percent. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) revised its macroeconomic assumptions...
Only a few major differences will be tacked by the bicameral conference committee on disagreeing provisions of the 2025 budget according to Senate Finance Committee Chair Senator Grace Poe. Sen. Grace L. Poe delivers her opening remarks as the head of Senate panel and chairperson of the Committee...
Even with the controversial P1.3 billion budget slashed from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Senate Finance Committee chair Senator Grace Poe said the office can still perform its mandate with P733 million. In a press conference on Wednesday, November 27, Poe said that members of the Upper...
Vice President Sara Duterte’s allies in the Senate have accepted the inevitability they won’t be able to press for a higher budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025 given the current circumstances. Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the OVP’s budget for next year...
The Philippine government has made inroads towards greater digital transformation, as required by the newest loan it secured from the World Bank. The Washington-based multilateral lender disclosed on Nov. 26 that Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, on behalf of the government, signed the loan...
Voting 18-0-1, the Senate approved on third and final reading on Tuesday, Nov. 26, House Bill 10800 or the P6.352 trillion 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). In plenary, Senator Grace Poe enumerated during the period of committee amendments how the Senate maximized the budget to secure the...
The Philippines has secured a government-to-government financial and development cooperation agreement with Sweden, aimed at enhancing economic security and investment in key projects. The DOF announcement follows the signing on Nov. 22, 2024, involving Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto and...
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has called on the Philippine private sector to intensify efforts in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience building. “People talk about DRR here; the government has a lot to say about DRR, but the private sector,...
The Philippines will repay to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the initial loan it secured for the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network (LLRN) until 2052, or 24 years after the project is expected to be passable. Documents showed that Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, on behalf of the Philippine...
The Philippines and the World Bank have agreed on the terms of the 466.07-million euro (equivalent to $500 million or over P29 billion) loan to ensure the safety and resiliency of schools in the country from natural disasters. Official documents disclosed on Nov. 19 showed that Finance Secretary...
Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph G. Recto announced that the double tax agreement (DTA) between the Philippines and Cambodia is expected to be finalized in February of next year. In a statemen, Recto noted that while the Philippines and Cambodia are preparing to sign the agreement,...
Senator Raffy Tulfo slammed the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) for what he called their unfinished and non-operational Balog Balog Dam project Phase 2 in San Jose, Tarlac. During the plenary deliberations on Monday, Nov. 18, for the proposed budget of NIA for 2025, Tulfo questioned the...