PHL’s target: Have 13 FTAs signed by ’28 By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
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RUSSIAN MISSILE AND DRONE ATTACK HITS UKRAINIAN CAPITAL KYIV, KILLING 7 PEOPLE AND WOUNDING 82
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ANILA is targeting to have 13 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed before the end of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). “So if this [FTAs signed] will happen, my calculation basically is that under the present administration, we’ll be having around 13 free trade agreements. And I think that is very important, because it gives signal to the global community that the Philippines is indeed ready. And therefore our partners
can invest in the Philippines,” DTI Undersecretary Allan B. Gepty said during the 2025 Mid-year Economic Briefing organized by the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) on Thursday in Makati City. Gepty explained that the Philippines has been negotiating a lot of free trade deals with various countries as this is anchored on the administration’s commitment for the country to “advance purposive, assertive and forwardlooking” FTAs. Gepty said the trade negotiations are ongoing with the 27-member bloc European Union (EU) and Chile or the Philippines’s first Latin American trading
partner. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/07/30/ ph l- e ye s-to - co ncl u de-f reet rade-deal-w ith-chile-thisyear-the-countrys-first-latinamerican-trading-partner/) Meanwhile, the Philippine negotiating team is about to start with the “Preferential” trade agreement with India, which Gepty said is a “big market.” Moreover, the Philippines is also exploring the possibility for an FTA with Canada. “If that happens, then that will be also another milestone that will be our link in the North American region,” said Gepty. Just last Tuesday, the Philippines’s Trade department also made
a pronouncement to explore a possible free trade agreement with Israel. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2025/07/29/philippinesisrael-eye-free-trade-agreement/) Gepty also reported that the FTA with the United Arab Emirates is just waiting to be signed. “We have already concluded our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the same is scheduled for signing. So we’re just waiting for the date of the signing,” he said. At the regional front, the DTI’s chief for International Trade Group said Manila is “very active” in upgrading its “largest” trade See “PHL’s,” A13
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
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INFLATION SEEN NEARLY FLAT ON RICE PRICE DIP www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Friday, August 1, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 292
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Peso seen weakening further; now ₧58.32 to $
By Cai U. Ordinario
HE increase in commodity prices in July may have been flat due to the continued decline in rice prices, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its Month-Ahead inflation forecast, BSP projected July 2025 inflation to settle within the range of 0.5 to 1.3 percent. The official data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on August 5. BSP said that, notwithstanding increases in other food items as well as utilities and the depreciation of the peso, the decline in rice prices is enough to offset the impact of these price increases.
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“Upward price pressures for the month are likely to be driven by higher meat and vegetable prices partly due to unfavorable weather conditions, increased electricity rates, elevated domestic fuel costs, and the depreciation of the peso. These price pressures, however, could be partially offset by the continued decline in rice prices,” BSP said. Rice has a weight of 8.87 percent in See “Inflation,” A2
HIGH HOPES, LOW GEAR
Why 6% Growth Won’t Get Us to AmBisyon2040 What is AmBisyon2040?
→What Filipinos Want: A simple and comfortable life
n AmBisyon Natin 2040 is the
In 2016, AmBisyon2040 data showed that 79.2% of Filipinos aspired to a simple and comfortable life within 25 years, while only 3.9% aimed for a life of affluence.
Travel locally 21% Be a business owner, relax w/ family/ friends 30%
Why It’s Slipping Away →Current growth: 6% or lower
Not enough to hit high-income status by 2040
→Setbacks:
Meet daily needs & own a medium-sized home 61%
n 2020: Economy contracted 9% due to COVID n Lost 3 years of growth momentum n Post-pandemic recovery slower than needed
What Needs to Happen Earn enough & support college education 73%
Own a car/ vehicle 62%
→Growth goal: n Aspire for faster economic growth of 6-8 percent n Solve structural, technical, institutional challenges
❝I am not happy with 6 percent because with 6 percent, we’ll be overtaken... we need to grow faster.... Vietnam is growing faster than the Philippines and aims to post double-digit growth like China, while Indonesia is aiming to post a growth of at least 8 percent to become a high-income country ‘as fast as possible.’ ❞ —Arsenio M. Balisacan, DepDev Secretary
BM Graphics: Ed Davad | Source: Neda, DEPDev
Philippines’ 25-year vision launched by NEDA in 2015 and adopted by the Duterte administration through Executive Order No. 5. It guides long-term development and reflects Filipinos’ aspirations for a better life by 2040.
FRASCO HITS BACK AT CRITICS; TOURIST ARRIVALS STILL 3M By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
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OREIGN tourist arrivals in the Philippines reached almost 3 million in the first half of 2025, unchanged from the same reference period in 2024. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed the 2.98 million international tourists from January to June this year was 27.8-percent less than 4.13 million arrivals in the same period in 2019. Of the total this year, 2.73 million were foreign nationals, while 267,284 were
overseas Filipinos, described as Philippine passport holders permanently residing abroad. This developed as Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco decried attempts to paint the tourism sector as underperforming and overspending. Going off her prepared keynote speech at a meeting with stakeholders on Thursday, she said: “[On] behalf of our stakeholders, who have invested so much this many years, [on] behalf of billions of tourism workers, who every single day expend their blood, sweat, and See “Frasco,” A2
MARCOS TO MARCOS: THE LONG ROAD HOME An aerial view of Edsa, the iconic artery of Metro Manila, shows vehicles crawling past
the elevated MRT-3 on Thursday, July 31, 2025. Once the site of historic uprisings that toppled regimes, Edsa now faces a different kind of upheaval— delayed yet again. The Department of Public Works and Highways announced that the Edsa Rehabilitation Project, initially set to start this year, has been postponed to 2027 following President Marcos Jr.’s directive to allow time for scientific studies and the exploration of technologies that could minimize traffic disruption. The project, aiming to revive a road long battered by time and overuse, includes concrete reblocking, asphalt resurfacing, road widening, sidewalk and drainage improvements, better lighting and signage, and structural maintenance on aging flyovers and bridges— several of which date back to the Marcos Sr. era, including landmark interchanges like Balintawak and Magallanes, built in the late 1960s to 1970s. NONOY LACZA
ILIPINOS can expect the Philippine peso to weaken further with the start of the imposition of higher tariffs on the country’s merchandise exports to the United States, according to local economists. On Thursday, the Philippine currency weakened to P58.32 to the US dollar. It opened at P57.86 to the greenback and traded at a high of P57.85 and a low of P58.4. Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) showed that this is the weakest close of the peso since February 19, 2025 when the currency closed at P58.088 to the US dollar. “That [weaker peso in the nearterm] is a possibility as other countries will try to weaken their currency to offset the impact of the tariff,” Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at professional services firm Reyes Tacandong & Co. told BusinessMirror. Unionbank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion also expects the peso to remain under pressure due to the upcoming release of US data such as nonfarm payrolls. “A rebound is possible if the Fed turns more dovish or if local inflation data softens enough to ease pressure on the BSP. However, without a shift in fundamentals or sentiment, 58+ levels could persist,” Asuncion told this newspaper. On Thursday, Ravelas said the decision of the US Federal Reserve to pause its monetary policy is also seen as a factor that further weakened the Philippine currency on Thursday. Asuncion added that the Philippine peso weakened against the US dollar due to “robust US economic data” which encouraged a “safe-haven demand” given uncertainties surrounding global trade. He added that the forward guidance of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. on a possible rate cut in August also added to the list of factors that weakened the peso on Thursday. “BSP Governor Remolona’s reiteration of a possible rate See “Peso,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.3060 n JAPAN 0.3835 n UK 75.8617 n HK 7.3012 n CHINA 7.9592 n SINGAPORE 44.2142 n AUSTRALIA 36.8764 n EU 65.3861 n KOREA 0.0411 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2771 Source: BSP (July 31, 2025)