President Marcos’ economic managers will outline their roadmap for navigating global market volatility and domestic pressure at the annual Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) forum on Friday, Aug. 14. Finance Secretary Frederick Go, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)...
Former Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno warned that the proposed ₱7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 will be exceptionally tight, constraining government flexibility as economic growth slows and borrowing costs escalate. Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Aug. 12,...
United Overseas Bank (UOB) is calling for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to raise its key interest rate to five percent at its upcoming policy meeting on Aug. 27, forecasting a final quarter-point increase to counter sticky inflation and support weakening peso. The Singapore-based lender...
The Philippines is falling behind its neighbors—not because the region is weak, but because domestic politics has become an economic drag. While much of ASEAN continues to post respectable numbers, the Philippines has slowed sharply. Its 2.3 percent growth in the second quarter of 2026 was the...
The Philippine economy faces an uphill battle in the second half of 2026 after posting its weakest post-pandemic growth, with private sector economists warning that faster infrastructure spending, easing inflation, and stronger investor confidence will determine whether the country can meet the...
Nearly half of Philippine businesses remain dissatisfied with registration and closure procedures despite a law aimed at cutting red tape, as fragmented government systems, weak data sharing, and uneven digitalization continue to slow transactions, according to the Department of Economy, Planning,...
President Marcos retains ample fiscal room to expand government borrowing to support infrastructure and development programs, according to his chief economic manager, brushing off concerns over sovereign debt that has climbed to its highest level relative to economic output in more than two...
The good For the Philippines, entry into the World Bank’s upper-middle-income club is both a vindication and a warning. After decades in the lower-middle-income category, the country has at last crossed the line. The achievement is real; so is its modesty. The World Bank’s latest income...
Malacañang expects the Philippine economy to regain momentum in the second half of the year after growth slowed to 2.3 percent in the second quarter, with the government moving to accelerate spending and infrastructure projects. Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro...
Amid both external and domestic challenges, the Philippines’ economic growth weakened further to a new post-pandemic low of 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday, Aug. 7. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed from 2.8 percent...
Economic growth in the second quarter of 2026 may have slowed further to a post-pandemic low as Filipinos pumped the brakes on borrowing and spending, while public expenditure remained lackluster. In a report obtained by the Manila Bulletin, US financial giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. noted that...
Within days of assuming office on July 1, 2022, the Marcos Jr. administration unveiled an ambitious fiscal consolidation plan: the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework 2022–2028 (MTFF 2022–28). This plan was unprecedented in two respects: it was the first framework of its kind in Philippine history...
