ADB to add $100B to DMC financing in 10 yrs By Cai U. Ordinario
M
ILAN, Italy—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is increasing its financing for developing member countries (DMCs) by another $100 billion over the next decade. In his opening address at the 58th Annual Meeting on Monday, ADB President Masato Kanda said the “additional headroom” will expand ADB’s operations by 50 percent in the next 10 years. This means, ADB financing will increase to $36 billion a year for the next 10 years from the current $24 billion, which it announced in February 2025. Kanda said this
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will allow ADB to better meet the needs of DMCs. “We have created $100 billion dollars in additional headroom, which we will allow us to grow our operations by 50 percent over the next decade—from $24 billion to $36 billion dollars a year—to meet the rising aspirations of our developing member countries,” Kanda said. “Our ambition is not simply to grow bigger. It is to become more effective and more inclusive.” The additional financing includes the $40 billion for food and nutrition financing that the ADB just announced on Sunday. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph /2025/05/05/adb-hiking-
food-nutrition-funds-to-40b/). The amount also includes the four-fold increase in private sector financing to $13 billion annually by 2030. The financing, Kanda said, will help support entrepreneurs, businesses, and investors for innovative business solutions. “The region will not grow and add the millions of jobs we need without private sector development,” Kanda said. “Our job is to help unleash this potential, especially in the markets where it is needed most.” The additional financing will also enable ADB to advance open regionalism efforts through digitalization; resilient infrastructure; cross-border energy and
transport systems; and greater cooperation. The Manila-based multilateral development bank also intends to deepen financial integration by developing local currency bond markets, strengthening financial safety nets, and promoting seamless cross-border transactions. “We are committed to strengthening governance and transparency. We know that development finance must not only be effective; it must be trusted. Strong safeguards, rigorous sustainability disclosures, and policy dialogue will remain central to our work,” Kanda said. In February, ADB said its bid See “ADB,” A2
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By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
HE increase in prices of commodities may be felt in three to six months due to “supply chain choke points” brought about by the tariff pronouncements of Washington, according to supply chain experts.
“Maybe you are not feeling it because there is still inventory in the system. Wait until three to four or six months, you’ll start to feel it...increasing commodity costs, retaliatory tariffs being made by country to country,” Charlie Villaseñor, President of Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia (Pasia), said during the recent Philippines Logistics Summit 2025. He explained that anything that happens in one echelon of the supply chain is going to create “significant” impact for many organizations, which will also lead to “continuing uncertainties and challenges.” “We are all interconnected. Anything that happens in one echelon of the supply chain, either you’re on the
first tier, second tier or the third tier echelon, it’s going to create significant impact to many organizations,” Villaseñor said during the forum. He explained that the rise in cost of goods may originate from what he called the “bullwhip effect.” “When businessmen are apprehensive, they stop. When they stop and they wait and see, the supply chain is not moving. So it creates a bullwhip effect,” said Villaseñor. This means, he said, “From the manufacturer down to the customer, some of them will tend to buy more or not buy at all.” He also explained that the trend of repositioning manufacturing plants in some countries may push See “Price,” A2
POLL POSITION A man drives a tricycle past a wall filled with campaign posters in Manila City on Monday, May 5, 2025. With the midterm elections scheduled for May 12, candidates for national and local positions intensify their campaigns across the country. The Commission on Elections has begun deploying official ballots and automated counting machines in preparation for the polls. NONIE REYES
PHL TO CONTINUE MONITORING U.S. SLOWDOWN, LOCAL IMPACT By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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@blessogerio
HE Philippine government is closely monitoring the potential impact of the United States’ economic contraction on the domestic economy, following a 0.3-percent annualized decline in their gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2025. “It’s really difficult to give an answer on the basis of a one-off change in the GDP,” Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (Depdev) Undersec-
retary Rosemarie Edillon said in a press briefing on Monday. Edillon explained that the contraction was likely driven by a surge in US imports in anticipation of higher tariffs, which skewed the GDP calculation. “Kasi ang alam natin, nangyari ito dahil sa anticipation ng high tariffs—dumami yung imports nila [What we know is that this happened because of the anticipation of high tariffs—their imports increased],” she said. “And as you know, GDP is computed as consumption plus See “PHL,” A2
Moody’s think tank sees Q1 growth at 5.5% By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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@reine_alberto
ESPITE expectations of recovery, the Philippine economy is poised to accelerate to only 5.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to Moody’s Analytics—still below the Marcos administration’s target of 6 to 8 percent. In its economic view for Asia Pacific, Moody’s Analytics said the Philippine economy likely expanded to 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025. The forecast is faster than the 5.2 percent growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 but slower than the 5.8-percent expansion posted in the same period last year. Still, Moody’s Analytics’ outlook
is below the Cabinet-level Development Budget and Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) growth target of 6 to 8 percent. This year, the Philippine economy’s growth trajectory is projected to be shy of the government’s target, which is already seen as the “strongest expansion” in three years, according to Moody’s Ratings. Moody’s Ratings sees the economy to grow by 5.9 percent in 2025 from 5.6 percent in 2024, and will further slow to 5.8 percent in 2026—still one of the fastestgrowing economies in Southeast Asia due to its domestic economy driven by private consumption. Amid the global tariff war, Moody’s Analytics said domestically driven economies like the Philippines have an opportunity to ease monetary
policy and boost domestic demand. “If inflation remains at or near central bank target ranges, and provided the greenback doesn’t return to sustained appreciation, then central banks across the region will have more room to cut rates,” Moody’s Analytics said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. told Malacañang reporters on Monday that the country’s economic growth will be an “important factor” in deciding the monetary policy stance. Given a more challenging external environment, Remolona has said there will be further rate cuts this year to support economic growth. The BSP has lowered the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent, and is expected to reduce
75 basis points more this year as inflation remains under control. The central bank projects inflation to remain low and settle within the range of 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent in April, on the back of easing prices of rice, fish, fruits and vegetables, as well as favorable domestic supply conditions. Lower oil prices, along with the peso appreciation, will also contribute to the downward price pressures for the month, the BSP added. Headline inflation eased to 1.8 percent year-on-year in March, the lowest since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, from 2.1 percent in February. The April local inflation data will be released on May 6, while the first quarter GDP result will come out on May 8.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.7480 n JAPAN 0.3849 n UK 73.9887 n HK 7.1931 n CHINA 7.6666 n SINGAPORE 42.9591 n AUSTRALIA 35.8961 n EU 63.0287 n KOREA 0.0399 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8662 Source: BSP (May 5, 2025)