<\/p>\n
By Katherine K. Chan, <\/b>Reporter<\/i><\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 The Philip<\/span>pines is facing a dif<\/span>f<\/span>icult situation as its heavy reliance on oil imports tests its economic resilience amid the continuing energy crisis from the Middle East war, the International <\/span>Monetary Fund (IMF) said.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n At a press briefing throughout the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings on Wednesday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the war\u2019s impact on Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member economies is unequal, with energy importers just like the Philippines taking more toll. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor the energy importers, those who have little or no to none energy reserves of oil and gas, the situation is way more diff<\/span>icult,\u201d Ms. Georgieva said. \u201cAnd I very much sympathize with the people within the Philippines because I do know that your country does face that difficulty.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF slashed its 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.1% from 5.6% in January, reflecting weaker-than-expected growth in 2025 and the impact of <\/span>the war within the Middle East.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The IMF also expects 4.1% growth for the ASEAN-5 region, which is comprised of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, this yr. It was marginally slower than its 4.2% estimate in January.<\/p>\n Ms. Georgieva noted that the region is \u201cin a vivid spot by way of growth and economic dynamism\u201d but must still strengthen its regional integration to higher weather shocks from the war.<\/p>\n \u201cActually, ASEAN is a vivid spot by way of growth and by way of economic dynamism,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce you have a look at the impact of this shock, for this reason strong buildup over time, ASEAN is definitely weathering the shock as a gaggle of nations relatively well.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Several ASEAN energy exporters could also be higher positioned to weather these shocks, in contrast to the heavier impact experienced by energy importers within the region, the IMF chief said.<\/p>\n Within the Philippines, oil prices have soared for the reason that United States and Israel\u2019s attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. This week saw the primary rollback in pump prices, as global oil prices fell amid the temporary ceasefire within the Middle East.<\/p>\n The Philippines is currently under a national state of energy emergency, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced last month after noting the threats to the country\u2019s <\/span>energy supply because the war drags on. <\/span><\/p>\n PAUSE \u201cIn economies where inflation stays below goal, similar to Thailand and the Philippines, further rate cuts will be paused to preserve room for relieving later,\u201d IMF Asia and Pacific Department Deputy Division Chief Andrea Pescatori and <\/span>Director Krishna Srinivasan said.<\/span><\/p>\n Philippine inflation accelerated to 4.1% in March, breaking the nearly two-year streak of it settling below the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas\u2019 (BSP) 2%-4% goal.<\/p>\n Before this, the BSP had held its rates regular in an off-cycle meeting although it raised its full-year inflation projection to five.1% from 3.6%, because it noted that immediate tightening risks delaying the economy\u2019s rebound.<\/p>\n This paused the central bank\u2019s easing cycle, which began in August 2024, where it delivered a complete of 225 basis points in cuts to bring the policy rate to 4.25%.<\/p>\n BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. on Tuesday told BusinessWorld <\/i>that the expected economic relief from the federal government\u2019s ongoing fiscal reforms has opened space for monetary policy tightening. <\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, he noted that the central bank remains to be monitoring incoming data, particularly inflation, for clearer guidance for its upcoming policy review on April 23. <\/span><\/p>\n REGIONAL SHOCKS \u201cAsia entered 2026 on a robust footing,\u201d they said. \u201cDespite the region bearing the brunt of US tariffs last April and chronic trade policy uncertainty, growth was resilient in 2025 and trade remained robust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, the war within the Middle East and the following energy supply shock are raising inflation, weakening external balances, and narrowing policy options, underscoring the region\u2019s dependence on <\/span>imported oil and gas,\u201d they added. <\/span><\/p>\n The multilateral lender sees Asia expanding slower at 4.4% this yr and 4.2% next yr from 5% in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cShould the shock persist or intensify, as within the WEO\u2019s antagonistic and severe scenarios, growth through 2027 may very well be reduced cumulatively by 1% to 2%,\u201d Mr. Pescatori <\/span>and Mr. Srinivasan added.<\/p>\n Inflation within the region can be expected to quicken to 2.6% by yearend, before easing to 2.4% in 2027. Still, this is quicker than the 1.4% clip recorded last yr. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe war introduced a brand new and more immediate headwind clouding the near-term outlook for Asia, where net oil and gas imports equal about 2.5% of economic output,\u201d the blog read.<\/p>\n Amid this, Ms. Georgieva said the crisis calls for a stronger regional integration amongst ASEAN countries <\/span>because it faces shared economic woes. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Philippines is now leading the ASEAN. I’m going to be there when the meeting takes place,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I do consider that this may be very essential for regions which have the potential to trade more throughout the countries of the region.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cConstruct that integration. You’ll profit from it in a more shock-prone world,\u201d Ms. Georgieva added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva attends a briefing during IMF\/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., April 15, 2026. \u2014 REUTERS\/KEN CEDENO By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 The Philippines is facing a difficult situation as its heavy reliance on oil imports tests its economic resilience amid the continuing energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":319943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[8738,939,3619,3431,4100,49355,2364,11279,8182,13161],"class_list":["post-319942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-difficult","tag-energy","tag-faces","tag-growth","tag-imf","tag-mideast","tag-philippines","tag-shocks","tag-situation","tag-weigh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319945,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319942\/revisions\/319945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/b>In a separate blog published on Thursday, the IMF said the Philippine central bank can stand pat for now to preserve easing space.<\/p>\n
<\/b>Meanwhile, Asia\u2019s resilience <\/span>against last yr\u2019s US tariff policies and global trade uncertainty will probably be shaken because the Middle East conflict stokes inflation, weakens external balances and limits policy options, Mr. Pescatori and Mr. Srinivasan said within the IMF blog.<\/p>\n