BOP, CA-GDP ratio seen negative till ’26 By Cai U. Ordinario
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TRUMP SAYS HE’S NOT PLANNING TO EXTEND A PAUSE ON GLOBAL TARIFFS BEYOND JULY 9
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HE country’s Balance of Payments (BOP) and Current Account (CA) to GDP ratio are expected to remain in negative territory until next year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The data showed the country’s BOP will register a deficit of 1.3 percent of GDP in 2025 and 0.5 percent in 2026. The overall BOP position in 2025 is projected to be negative $6.3 billion while the
2026 figure is negative $2.8 billion. The CA as a percentage of GDP is expected to be at a deficit of 3.3 percent of GDP in 2025 and 2.5 percent in 2026. The CA account will register a negative $16.3 billion in 2025 and negative $13.6 billion in 2026. “They look reasonable, especially if the reason for the deficit is investment spending. If it’s weak production and largely consumption-led spending, then it can be worrisome. This doesn’t seem the case for now,” Bank of the Phil-
ippine Islands Chief Economist Emilio S. Neri Jr. told BusinessMirror. However, Neri said the BOP deficit expectations seem “a bit optimistic” as a central bank projection. He said this estimate may have assumed that the country’s capital and financial account will register surpluses this year and next year. He said a larger deficit could mean a depletion of the government’s international reserves or there is a weakening of the currency.
Neri said there was nothing wrong with having BOP deficits as long as the country’s current account deficits are sustainable. “It’s always tough to make a call on the capital and financial accounts of the BoP,” Neri said. “To improve the chances of sustaining our current account position at comfortable levels, we need to improve overall domestic productivity which can be achieved through better investments and mobilization of physical and human capital.” See “BOP,” A2
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DOLE ORDERS ₧50 WAGE HIKE FOR NCR WORKERS www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 261
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Justine Xyrah Garcia and Cai U. Ordinario
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ORE than a million minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region are set to receive a P50 daily pay increase starting this July, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Monday. NCR WAGE HIKE: BIG RELIEF OR JUST A BAND-AID? Non-agriculture sector:
Economists Weigh In
From P645 to P695
Canlas (NEDA): Between P100 and P200 increase per day is fair to workers.
From P608 to P658
Lanzona (Ateneo): Wage increases are justified only if these raise productivity.
Agriculture, retail (≤15 workers), and manufacturing (≤10 workers):
WHY NOW?
5.4% GDP growth in Q1 2025 1.7% inflation in NCR (May 2025) 5.1% unemployment (April 2025)
The increase marks the biggest wage adjustment ever approved by Metro Manila’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.
Rivera (PIDS): As minimum-wage earners gain more purchasing power, spending may rise, particularly in local economies, pushing up demand-side pressures. Edillon (DEPDev): Economy is wellpositioned to absorb wage hike impact due to low inflation.
DOLE said the figure represented considerations of economic balance and fairness to both workers and employers. The largest alliance of employers said they “respect” the order and will live with it, but labor groups called it a pittance, barely enough
EMPLOYER & LABOR GROUP REACTIONS
“We respect it... Our only objection is that only a minority of workers will get that. Only 10 percent of the workers. Who will take care of the 90 percent?” Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., ECOP “This increase barely makes a dent in the poverty faced by workers.” Partido Manggagawa “This paltry P50 increase is a pathetic attempt to pacify workers.” Sentro “It fails to address the discriminatory regional wage system…” FFW
BM Graphics: Ed Davad
New Daily Minimum Wages
to meet the needs of struggling workers. Still, the increase marks the biggest wage adjustment ever approved by Metro Manila’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB). See “Dole,” A12
NGCP, discuss RE, grid NGCP,SGCC SGCC discusses RE, grid policies policies with with DOE DOEUsec. Usec.Guevara Guevara
CROSSING OVER: REHAB OF ICONIC SAN JUANICO BRIDGE IN FULL SWING Vehicles under 3 tons, including vans and small cars, pass in single file along the 2.17-kilometer San Juanico Bridge—currently undergoing rehabilitation. The bridge, which connects Santa Rita town in Samar and Tacloban City in Leyte, is the third longest bridge spanning a body of seawater in the Philippines, after the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway and the Panguil Bay Bridge. The trip was made possible through AirAsia’s “See You in Leyte” campaign, which continues to bring more tourists to the province. BERNARD TESTA
OVERSEAS PINOYS KEEP 5-MO BOI report: ₧3.38-T SIPP TOURIST ARRIVALS AFLOAT investments OKd by Dec ’24 By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
NGCP, SGCC, and DOE Meet in Shanghai to Advance Grid-Forming and Green Energy Strategies
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PRODUCTIVE meeting was recently held in Shanghai, China between representatives of NGCP, the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC)—NGCP’s technical partner—and Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara. Discussions focused on grid-forming policies and other strategies essential to supporting the integration of renewable energy. NGCP and SGCC have consistently championed technologies and solutions that enable the reliable integration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. Leveraging SGCC’s techni-
cal expertise, NGCP is well-positioned to implement these strategies, and awaits the needed supporting policy and regulatory framework, especially in view of the influx of projects under the DOE’s Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) Phases 1, 2, 3, and the upcoming Phase 4. As the world’s largest power transmission and distribution utility, SGCC operates across 88% of China’s territory. With renewables comprising approximately 30% of China’s energy mix, SGCC remains at the forefront of renewable grid integration—both domestically and through international partnerships.
Special to the BusinessMirror
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OREIGN visitor arrivals in the Philippines slipped to 2.54 million in the first five months of the year, 1.2-percent less from the same period in 2024. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed the continued sluggish arrivals of foreign tourists were cushioned primarily by the 28.5-percent increase in the arrivals of over-
seas Filipinos to 217,626, yearon-year (yoy). Foreign nationals, however, declined by 2.92 percent to 2.33 million, yoy. The largest sources of overseas Filipinos, or Philippine passport holders permanently living abroad, came from the United States at 53,607; Japan at 22,159; Canada at 21,686; Singapore at 16,604; the United Arab Emirates at 13,288; and Australia at 12,141. “I think we’ve seen recovery See “Overseas,” A2
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HE Board of Investments (BOI) said it had approved P3.38 trillion worth of investments under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) which took effect in June 2022 until its end in December 2024. In a statement on Monday, the investment promotion agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) quoted Mariane Genelou S. Reyes, Chief Investments Specialist at the BOI’s Research and Policy Division as citing among the top-performing sectors Renewable Energy, which account-
ed for P2.58 trillion; Digital Infrastructure at P295.14 billion; and Logistics and Supply Chain-related investments at P168.24 billion. In a recent interview with reporters, BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the 2025-2028 SIPP is already up “for presentation and approval of the [Fiscal Incentives Review Board] FIRB.” “In the meantime, tuloy-tuloy lang [it just continues]. No one is prejudiced because we still continue with the [current] SIPP,” Rodolfo told reporters. See “BOI,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.5810 n JAPAN 0.3917 n UK 77.6801 n HK 7.2081 n CHINA 7.8869 n SINGAPORE 44.3529 n AUSTRALIA 36.9927 n EU 66.3808 n KOREA 0.0415 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0866 Source: BSP (June 30, 2025)