Exporters still eyeing 7% growth in 2026 By Andrea E. San Juan
F
WORLD » A9
FEAR GRIPS WEST BANK VILLAGE AS ATTACKS ON PALESTINIANS BY ISRAELI SETTLERS SURGE
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
@andreasanjuan
RONTLOADING of shipments due to the steeper tariffs imposed on goods bound for the United States may have started to dwindle, but Philippine exporters are still gunning for at most a 7-percent growth next year despite the US tariffs. Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) Director Bianca Pearl R. Sykimte explained to reporters the flow of outbound shipments in 2025, particularly how exporters have responded to Washington’s imposition of tariffs on its trading partners including the Philip-
pines, which started in July 2025. “Actually, because of the tariffs, there were a lot of early shipments. So a lot of people saw that to avoid the tariffs, we’ve seen advance shipments of our exports to the US,” Sykimte told reporters on the sidelines of the National Exporters’ Week on Tuesday. Asked until when will the frontloading of shipments happen, Sykimte said: “Maybe it’s already over. But it depends on the expectations of the buyers and exporters.” She also noted that exports data may normalize “in the next few months.” This means that data on Philippine exports after Washington’s imposition of the steeper tariffs
on Philippine goods may start showing the real trend next year. At the early start of the imposition of tariffs, Sykimte said exporters had a hard time because they were being asked to “share the cost of the tariffs.” “Because I think within the US, retailers are also pressured not to increase the prices,” Sykimte explained further. Amid the steeper tariffs imposed by the United States on the Philippines, at 19-percent reciprocal tariffs, Sykimte said this is the first time in history that the Philippines “consistently exported $7.2 billion average every month.” “Usually we would only export $5 to $6 billion a month for merchandise exports,” Sykimte said, adding
that the frontloading of exports was reflected in the country’s exports data in the last five months, from June to October 2025. Through the private sector’s lens, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the Philippines will hit the $113.42-billion target in exports of goods and services set in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028. Early this year, Ortiz-Luis only hoped for total exports to reach $110 billion. He said while the country’s goods and services exports will grow this year, it may not reach the doubledigit percentage growth rate. See “Growth,” A2
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
10-MO DEBT HITS ₱17.56T AS PESO KEEPS SLIPPING www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 56
P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 46 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
T
HE weaker peso against the US dollar drove the national government’s outstanding debt to P17.562 trillion by the end of October, as currency swings added to its obligations despite a lesser reliance on foreign borrowings. Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the government’s outstanding debt rose by 0.61 percent to P17.562 trillion as of endOctober 2025 from P17.455 trillion as of end-September 2025. This marks a reversal from the 0.07 percent month-on-month decline recorded in end-September. According to the Treasury, the increase in debt was driven by the upward revaluation effects of the peso against the US dollar, which slipped to P58.771 at the end of October from P58.149 at end-September 2025, along with net issuances of domestic and external liabilities. Of the total debt stock, 68.6 percent was sourced domestically, while the remaining 31.4 percent was borrowed from foreign financiers. “[This is] consistent with the Bureau of the Treasury’s debt strategy of prioritizing local currency financing to mitigate foreign exchange risks and foster the development of the domestic bond market,” the Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday. Broken down, domestic debt inched up by 0.60 percent to P12.045 trillion as of end-October 2025 from P11.972 trillion in end-September 2025. The Treasury attributed the increase to the net issuances of government securities for the month totaling P70.65 billion, with peso depreciation adding P1.78 billion to the local currency valuation of retail dollar bonds. Likewise, external debt grew by 0.63 percent month-on-month to P5.516 trillion as of end-October 2025 from P5.482 trillion, behind the net loan availments of P8.25 billion and upward net adjustments of P26.10 billion in the peso equivalent of foreign currency debt. See “Debt,” A11
HOLIDAY HUSH: PMI HITS FOUR-YEAR LOW Factories and warehouses along Pasig River on December 2, 2025, reflect the challenges facing Philippine manufacturing. According to S&P Global, the Philippines Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)—a benchmark survey of manufacturing activity that tracks output, new orders, employment, supplier deliveries, and inventory levels—fell to 47.4 in November, the lowest in over four years. A reading below 50 indicates contraction, and firms reported plunging output, falling new orders, and typhoon-related disruptions as the main drivers of the decline. This marks the steepest deterioration in operating conditions since August 2021. NONOY LACZA
WEAKER ELECTRONICS WEIGHS ON OCT MANUFACTURING PPI By Justine Xyrah Garcia
F
ACTORY gate prices in the country barely moved in October as declining electronics prices weighed on the manufacturing sector, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Preliminary data from the PSA showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing increased by 0.3 percent year-on-year, easing from the 0.8-percent annual growth posted in September. In October last year, the
index recorded a 0.4-percent contraction. “The slower annual increase of PPI for the manufacturing section in October 2025 was primarily due to the annual decline in the PPI for manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products,” the PSA reported. The agency said prices in the electronics division fell by 1 percent, reversing the 0.6-percent increase recorded in September. Electronics alone also accounted for 56 percent of the overall slowdown, reflecting the See “PPI,” A2
Palace unfazed by dim GDP outlook, sees targets fulfilled E VEN with the growing economic impact of “political noise,” Malacañang maintained that the government can still hit its gross domestic product (GDP) target this year with the help of the public. This despite the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) conceding on Monday that it is “very unlikely” for the country to achieve the 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent economic growth target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). GDP was only at 4 percent from July to September.
It noted that the economy needs to grow by 7 percent from October to December for the country to achieve at least the lower end of the DBCC’s GDP target. In a press briefing on Tuesday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro noted the importance of stakeholder participation to help the country reach its GDP goal. “Again, the Palace is trying, the President is trying to ensure that we reach our target,” she said in Filipino. “So, with the help of the President’s economic team and also with the help of the people, hope-
fully we will reach our target,” she added. The economic managers attributed the slowdown in the economy during the first nine months of the year to their series of typhoons, which hit the country as well as the rising anti-government sentiments after the President started his campaign against anomalous flood control projects. “We will still try [to reach the GDP target], especially with these kinds of rallies that have happened, it is really quite noisy and it is affecting the economy,” Castro said. See “GDP,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.5950 n JAPAN 0.3770 n UK 77.4450 n HK 7.5232 n CHINA 8.2849 n SINGAPORE 45.2297 n AUSTRALIA 38.3270 n EU 68.0347 n KOREA 0.0398 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.6149 Source: BSP (December 2, 2025)