Lackluster growth spurs GDP targets review By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
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FTER the Philippine economy’s lackluster performance last year, economic managers are now considering revising the targets they set for 2025 during its first meeting in March. “Maybe we’ll need to adjust if needed, we’ll do the necessary adjustment,” Budget Secretary and Chairperson of the Development Budget Coordination Committee Amenah F. Pangandaman told reporters on the sidelines of the Makati Business Club’s General Membership Meeting on
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Wednesday. This comes after the economy grew at 5.2 percent in the last quarter of 2024, leaving full-year growth to an average of 5.6 percent. This is also the second consecutive year that the country failed to meet its GDP growth target set at 6 to 6.5 percent in 2024. The DBCC will likely retain the lower-end growth target of 6 percent but could tighten the upperend of the band, Budget Undersecretary and Principal Economist Joselito R. Basilio told reporters during the same event. This year, the economic managers widened the target band from 6 to 8 percent in anticipation of
the impacts of structural reforms and evolving domestic and global uncertainties. Pangandaman said the county’s gross domestic product (GDP), inflation and employment rate, as well as the key policy rates set by the Monetary Board, will be considered in its upcoming meeting. With United States President Donald Trump stepping into office, Pangandaman said there are no external risks to the Philippines yet. “As of now, it’s just the pronouncements and most of it is just the policy review of the existing orders and previous policy. So we wait until we get their final agenda.”
Meanwhile, revenues to be collected could also be lowered to make it more “realistic,” Basilio added. In a separate interview with reporters on Tuesday, Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said the gross domestic product (GDP) is directly correlated to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) tax collection. “If the actual GDP for 2025 falls, it will definitely have an effect on the collection of 2025.” “We have a lot of programs that we are doing to ensure that we can still achieve this target regardless of how the GDP performs in See “Lackluster,” A2
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
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Thursday, February 6, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 117
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TO STILL DRIVE INFLATION D
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ESPITE the decline in rice prices, the Philippines still faces a double whammy of high food and oil prices that could lead to faster inflation this year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and local economists. On Wednesday, PSA reported that inflation averaged 2.9 percent in January 2025, faster than the 2.8 percent posted in the same period last year. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/02/05/inflation-standsat-2-9-in-january-psa/). At a briefing, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa cited indications that oil and LPG prices could increase. “We’re still looking at certain factors, like for example, the price of oil and LPG. The LPG sector announced an increase in prices at the start of the month, and that will reflect in the inflation rate for the month of February,” Mapa said, partly in Filipino. In terms of food, Mapa said the PSA will closely monitor meat, fish, and vegetables—the same commodities See “high,” A2
IMPORTED COFFEE, FERTILIZER MORE
EXPENSIVE IN JANUARY By Ada Pelonia
T
@adapelonia
HE international prices of commodities being imported and exported by the Philippines, including fertilizer, registered increases in January based on the latest World Bank report. Figures from the World Bank indicated that global prices of coffee varieties like arabica and robusta posted an uptick last month. Arabica prices inched up by 3.17 percent to $7.81 per kilo in January from $7.57 per kilo recorded the previous month, while the global quotation of robusta variety grew by 3.64 percent to $5.41 per kilo last month from $5.22 per kilo in December. Global quotations of arabica and robusta coffee varieties in January were higher than the average prices last year at $5.62 per kilo and $4.41 per kilo, respectively. BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, recently reported that the market sentiment for coffee prices is still bullish, owing to supply-related concerns in Vietnam and Brazil, the world’s two largest coffee producers. (See: https:// See “Imported,” A18
FRESH OUTLOOK Vendors at the Las Piñas Market go about their morning routine, arranging fresh vegetables with smiles despite economic challenges. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, inflation remained steady at 2.9 percent in January, unchanged from December 2024, as lower rice prices helped offset increases in other food items. National Statistician Dennis Mapa noted that annual inflation rose for food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.8 percent from 3.4 percent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.5 percent from 3.1 percent), and transport (1.1 percent from 0.9 percent). NONIE REYES
7 groups push budget process reform By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
EVEN institutions including business groups have laid out proposals for the government to ensure the budget process would not result, in the future, in “adverse” long-term effects that impact the Philippines’s credit standing. “The undersigned business groups urge policymakers to safeguard the country’s long-term economic stability by ensuring that future budgets prioritize the short and long term needs of the Filipino people through the passage of the reforms proposed above,” noted the joint statement of the business groups, released by the Makati Business Club on Wednesday. The groups explained that the “diversion” of programmed funds from priority projects to discretionary spending on local projects with more political than economic purposes will result in “adverse” long-term effects. This could affect, they added, the Philippines’s credit standing, “making future
borrowing more expensive and limiting our ability to fund critical programs.” The business groups issued the statement containing their proposals after the 2025 National Budget was “substantially changed” by the bicameral committee. “They significantly reduced allocations for programmed healthcare, social services and education projects, by over P200 billion. In place of these programmed projects, the bicameral committee inserted local infrastructure projects and types of unconditional cash transfers which, we believe, promote a culture of patronage and dependency,” the seven groups underscored. These types of programs, they said, are “vulnerable to politicization and raise concerns of pork barrel practices, especially in light of the upcoming elections,” adding, this is the very practice that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in the (Priority Development Assistance Fund) PDAF case. The groups acknowledged President See “7 groups,” A2
NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION/S FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT/S (AEP/S) Notice is hereby given that the following companies/Employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s: ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.
NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION
QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE
C’EST LA VIE EVENT MANAGEMENT INC. 230, Narra Street, Marikina Heights, City Of Marikina
NITESH KUMAR General Trade Marketing Specialist Consultant 1.
Brief Job Description: Responsible for developing and executing commercial strategies.
Basic Qualification: Able to work as an independent consultant to provide marketing expertise to clients; can research industries, markets, demographics, trends, sales results, and other data related to the client’s products or services. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
See “dole ncr” on A6-A7
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.4070 n JAPAN 0.3785 n UK 72.8919 n HK 7.5007 n CHINA 8.0695 n SINGAPORE 43.2228 n AUSTRALIA 36.5219 n EU 60.6323 n KOREA 0.0402 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5731 Source: BSP (February 5, 2025)