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...
Philippine economic growth would continue to underperform this year and next as the country faces not only headwinds from a prolonged war in the Middle East but also domestic challenges related to politics and corruption, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The IIF’s latest...
New York-based global asset management giant BlackRock Financial Management Inc. (BlackRock) is looking to expand investments in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, through a climate-focused infrastructure debt fund backed by International Finance Corp. (IFC). In a May 20 disclosure, 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,...
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte raised concern over the limited direct access of local governments to climate financing, stressing that cities remain underfunded despite being at the frontline of climate change impacts. Speaking at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2026 in Singapore, h eld from May 18...
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...
The Asialink Group of Companies (Asialink) has reshuffled the leadership of its two flagship financing firms to position itself for faster growth, wider market reach, and stronger operational coordination amid rising competition in the financial services sector. The group stated that the transition...
More than a decade after the World Bank approved financing for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project, the flagship urban transport initiative remains far from achieving its original objectives, with only a short section of the corridor substantially completed before the loan expires in...
The government is nearing the end of its year-long search for a private partner to manage its nationwide value-added tax (VAT) refund system (VRS) for foreign tourists, as the Department of Finance (DOF) moves to formalize the accreditation process for global operators. Bureau of Internal Revenue...
The Philippines will repay until 2044 its biggest-ever loan from the World Bank, which will bankroll a sweeping agricultural transformation program aimed at boosting food production, modernizing farming systems, and strengthening climate resilience. Documents showed that Finance Secretary Frederick...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is prepared to provide up to $1.75 billion in additional financing to help the Philippines, its host country, manage the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In a statement on Friday, May 15, the Manila-based multilateral lender said ADB...
International Finance Corp. (IFC) is preparing what could become its first securitization deal in the Philippines backed by small and medium enterprise (SME) loans, as the World Bank Group’s (WBG) private-sector lending arm ramps up efforts to expand access to financing for underserved businesses...
