<\/p>\n
By Justine Irish D. Tabile, <\/b>Senior Reporter<\/i><\/p>\n
THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY <\/span>likely slowed in the primary quarter because the prolonged Middle East war weighed on activity, with growth expected to fall below recent <\/span>quarters and miss the government\u2019s full-year goal, the Econ<\/span>omy chief said.<\/p>\n Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the economy is unlikely to fulfill the 5% to six% growth goal this yr on account of external shocks and lingering domestic issues.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could be, given this unexpected development,\u201d he told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the US-Israel war on Iran. \u201cAnd we\u2019re attempting to recuperate from the infrastructure issue last yr, after which we\u2019re hit again by much more serious problems.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s comprehensible that you could\u2019t expect it to be higher than what you had in previous quarters, given these shocks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The economy grew 4.4% in 2025 \u2014 the slowest in five years \u2014 weighed down by weaker investment sentiment after a corruption scandal tied to flood control projects. The controversy implicated government off<\/span>icials, lawmakers and contractors, dampening business confidence.<\/p>\n Mr. Balisacan said global conditions have also worsened, citing downgraded growth forecasts from multilateral institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe worldwide picture shows that growth expectations have been reduced,\u201d he said, citing forecasts by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n The World Bank and IMF trimmed their 2026 growth forecasts for the Philippines to three.7% and 4.1%, respectively.<\/p>\n The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is anticipated to review its macroeconomic <\/span>targets after the discharge of <\/span>first-<\/span>quar<\/span>ter data scheduled for May 7.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur practice is to do those reviews as soon as we’ve got the economic performance report\u2026 perhaps per week or two after that,\u201d Mr. Balisacan said.<\/p>\n The DBCC had lowered its growth targets in December to reflect the impact of the infrastructure controversy, setting a 5% to six% goal for 2026 from 6% to 7%.<\/span><\/p>\n Rising oil prices on account of the Middle East war have added pressure on the economy. The Philippines, which relies heavily on imported fuel, has been hit by higher energy costs and tighter supply conditions.<\/p>\n The federal government declared a one-year state of national energy emergency and suspended excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas to cushion the impact on consumers.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of our fuel needs\u2026 come from the Middle East, directly or not directly,\u201d Mr. Balisacan <\/span>said. \u201cSo, we were affected by the shocks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Authorities have rolled out targeted subsidies and support measures to mitigate the impact on vulnerable sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, what we’ve got been doing\u2026 is to be sure that the economy will not be severely slowed down by this shock,\u201d he said, adding that protecting low-income households stays a priority.<\/p>\n Despite near-term challenges, Mr. Balisacan expressed confidence in a recovery once external pressures ease.<\/p>\n \u201cBut a very powerful thing is that we’ll find a way to recuperate as soon as this shock is over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Philippines stays reliant on fossil fuels, with renewable energy accounting for less than 26% of the facility mix \u2014 near the federal government\u2019s 35% goal by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n Also on Wednesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said economies in Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippines, should prioritize stabilization over suppressing price signals amid rising energy costs.<\/p>\n \u201cAllowing higher energy prices to go through, no less than partially, can encourage energy conservation, fuel switching and investment in alternative energy sources,\u201d it said in a policy transient.<\/p>\n The multilateral lender said fiscal support needs to be targeted and time-bound, with priority given to vulnerable households and heavily affected industries.<\/p>\n The ADB also cautioned against aggressive policy tightening, warning that it could worsen growth pressures and heighten financial market volatility.<\/span><\/p>\n It said governments might consider demand-side measures equivalent to temperature mandates and incentives for public transport use to curb energy consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n In its April Asian Development Outlook, the ADB lowered its 2026 growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.4% from 5.3%.<\/p>\n It also cut its growth projection for Asia and the Pacific to 4.7% from 5.1%, reflecting broader economic headwinds.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Container vans are seen within the port area in Manila. \u2014 PHILIPPINE STAR\/RYAN BALDEMOR By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY likely slowed in the primary quarter because the prolonged Middle East war weighed on activity, with growth expected to fall below recent quarters and miss the government\u2019s full-year goal, the Economy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3431,15256,1901,5106,571],"class_list":["post-326685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-growth","tag-iran","tag-philippine","tag-slow","tag-war"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326685","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=326685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326688,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326685\/revisions\/326688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}