Pervasive corruption in the Philippines is preventing the country from realizing its full economic potential, despite President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. making “steady progress” on his reform agenda, according to the think tank Capital Economics. In its Asia Economic Outlook report for the...
While government debt continued to pile up, private businesses and individuals in the Philippines held back on borrowings amid conditions not too conducive to debt accumulation. The latest data from the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF), released on Thursday, Sept. 25,...
Philippine banks are shoring up their loan-loss buffers as the industry’s bad loan ratio climbed to an eight-month high of 3.4 percent, due to the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global uncertainties affecting borrowers’ ability to repay debts. According to the latest data from...
Despite an increase in the Philippines’ general government (GG) debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 57.1 percent in 2024, the Marcos Jr. administration is targeting to gradually lower this debt ratio to the 54-percent level by the end of 2028. This was indicated in the national...
The Tokyo-based think tank Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) has flagged rising post-pandemic debt repayments in developing economies across the region, including the Philippines, which are depriving governments of more funding for public goods and services. “Between 2008 and 2019, annual...
The Philippine banking system’s gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio slightly eased to 3.38 percent in May, as continued double-digit growth in bank lending expanded the loan base and, along with the central bank’s cumulative 1.25-percent policy rate cut, helped reduce borrowing costs and...
The share of tax revenues to the Philippine economy has lingered below the regional average of efficient collections, highlighting the need to further improve tax administration and enforcement. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Revenue Statistics in Asia and the...
The Philippine banking system’s gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio climbed by nine basis points (bps) to 3.39 percent in April, reversing the improvement seen in March, as loan growth slowed and more borrowers fell behind on payments, according to the central bank. The latest data from the...
The Department of Finance (DOF) said the Marcos administration has been prudently managing the Philippines’ swollen debt stock, which was bloated by the ₱6.84 trillion added by the Duterte regime during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement released on Thursday, June 5, the DOF said the...
The Philippines ' annual economic growth is expected by the World Bank Group (WBG) to remain below six percent this year until 2031. Its newest country partnership framework (CPF) for the Philippines, covering fiscal years (FYs) 2026 to 2031, showed that the WBG forecasts Philippine gross...
The Philippine banking system’s gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio dropped to its lowest level in three months, as robust growth in total bank lending helped offset a slower rise in soured loans. The latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the banking industry’s...
While the share of the Philippine government's budget deficit and debt to the economy are going down and "stabilizing," respectively, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) is urging fiscal authorities across the region to remain prudent in spending on public goods and services as a...
