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A broader look at today’s business n
Saturday, May 30, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 228
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE SLIPS FOR 2ND MONTH C
By Andrea E. San Juan
-35.8%
ONFIDENCE of local businesses continued to wane amid the ongoing Middle East conflict which has kept oil prices and inflation elevated, according to the central bank’s Business Expectations Survey (BES). Based on the latest survey released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), business sentiment in the Philippines was “more pessimistic” in April 2026 as firms reported that higher inflation could raise operating costs and erode consumers’ purchasing power. The survey for April showed that the current-month confidence index (CI) plunged from -24.3 percent in March 2026 to -35.8 percent in April 2026. A negative CI means more respondents are pessimistic than
optimistic. April marks the second straight month that business confidence in the Philippines was in negative territory.
Current-month indicators
THE pessimism among businesses in April is anchored on their confidence towards the volume of business activity, total orders booked, access to credit and capacity utilization. The BSP explained that expectations on key economic indicators are expressed in terms of confi-
Current-month Business Expectations Survey (BES) confidence index in April 2026, indicating a deeper pessimistic sentiment among Philippine firms compared with -24.3% in March 2026, amid elevated inflation and geopolitical risks.
dence index (CI), computed as the percentage of firms that answered “up” less the percentage of firms that answered “down” with respect to their views on a given key economic indicator. On volume of business activity, more firms turned pessimistic as the CI slid to -15.3 percent in April from the 2.2 percent in March. Respondent firms also showed less confidence on the volume of total orders booked in April as the CI plunged to -15.6 percent from
the -2.7 percent in March. Local firms also turned more bleak on their financial condition in April as the confidence index slid to -35.5 percent from the -24.9 percent in the previous month. They also turned more pessimistic when it comes to access to credit as the CI declined to -9.9 percent in April from the -7.1 percent in March. While firms are still optimistic about average capacity utilization or the extent to which a company’s Continued on A2
PHL, Japan sign renegotiated treaty against double taxation
Import payments soar 22.4% to $13.17B in April, says PSA By Justine Xyrah Garcia
T
HE country’s import payments surged in April, with bills for mineral fuels posting the fastest growth among major import commodity groups. Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the import bill reached $13.17 billion in April, up 22.4 percent from $11.03 billion a year earlier. Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials recorded the biggest increase among major import categories, with import payments more than doubling—or rising 105.6 percent—to $2.55 billion for the month from $1.24 billion in April 2025. The commodity group accounted for 19.4 percent of the country’s total import bill during the month. Within the category, petroleum crude registered the largest increase, with import payments soaring 124.7 percent to $636.49 million from $283.48 million a year ago. Coal and coke imports also rose 13.2 percent to $246.03 million from $217.43 million. Despite the strong growth in fuel imports, electronic products remained the country’s top import commodity. The PSA said electronics imports reached $4.22 billion in April, accounting for 32 percent of total imports and posting a 78.2-percent increase from a year earlier. Other major import commodities included transport equipment (valued at $714.26 million), industrial machinery and equipment (at $478.06 million), and other food and live animals (at $438.42 million).
124.7% Increase in petroleum crude imports, with payments soaring to $636.49 million amid higher energy demand and fuel purchases.
Import payments for these commodity groups declined by 41 percent, 13.1 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively. The PSA said China remained the country’s largest source of imports, accounting for 28.8 percent of the total import bill in April. It was followed by South Korea (11.6 percent), Japan (8.2 percent), Malaysia (5 percent), and Indonesia (6.7 percent). The statistics agency also noted that imports from China, South Korea and Malaysia all posted double-digit growth during the month, with Malaysia recording the fastest increase at 86.6 percent. Meanwhile, the country’s export earnings rose 6.3 percent to $7.21 billion in April from $6.78 billion a year earlier. With imports growing faster than exports, the country’s trade deficit widened by 49.8 percent to $5.97 billion during the month. For the January-to-April period, the trade gap reached $19.28 billion, larger than the $16.44 billion recorded in the same period in 2025.
0.093 FARE INCREASES
G
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos arrive for the upper house at the Diet in Tokyo, Thursday, May 28, 2026. AP/EUGENE HOSHIKO
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
T
HE Philippines and Japan signed a renegotiated double taxation treaty, replacing a decades-old agreement and updating withholding tax rules on dividends, interest and royalties. In a statement on Friday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the agreement, titled “Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income,” was signed during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s official state visit to Japan.
The updated treaty will remove the risk of individuals and companies in the Philippines and Japan from being taxed twice on the same income, reducing the cost of doing business and improving tax predictability for cross-border transactions. “By streamlining cross-border tax treatment, the agreement is expected to create a more stable and efficient environment for trade and investment between the Philippines and Japan,” the DOF said. More than 245,000 overseas Continued on A2
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr., from left, Mylene J. Garcia-Albano, Ambassador of the Philippines to Japan, Kazuya Endo, Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pose during the Cooperation Document Exchange Ceremony at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Tokyo, Japan. RODRIGO REYES MARIN/
LOBAL oil price shocks are now hitting the Philippine economy harder following the implementation of higher fuel excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, as increases in global crude prices are being transmitted more aggressively into domestic consumer costs. This was according to a discussion paper released by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), which found that domestic fuel and consumer prices became more responsive to global oil price movements under the post-TRAIN pricing environment. “The results indicate that domestic fuel and consumer prices became substantially
Asymmetric adjustment in transport pricing: fare increases (0.093) respond strongly to oil price shocks, while fare decreases (0.004) are almost negligible, evidencing “rocket-and-feather” behavior in public transport fares.
0.004 FARE DECREASES
BM Graphics: Ed Davad / Source: CPBRD
ROCKET UP, FEATHER DOWN
OIL PRICE SHOCK
CPBRD: GLOBAL SHOCKS HITTING PHL HARDER WITH TRAIN LAW
more responsive to global crude oil movements following the implementation of petroleum excise taxes under the TRAIN Law,” it explained. Among petroleum products, kerosene and diesel showed the strongest sensitivity to global oil price movements after TRAIN, according to CPBRD. Kerosene posted the highest transmission rate at 0.732, followed by diesel at 0.683. Gasoline recorded 0.445, while LPG posted 0.374. “The results suggest that global crude oil shocks are now transmitted more strongly into domestic retail fuel prices under the excise-inclusive pricing regime,” the state think tank said. Continued on A2
POOL PHOTO VIA AP
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.6540 n JAPAN 0.3872 n UK 82.9061 n HK 7.8703 n CHINA 9.0998 n SINGAPORE 48.3447 n AUSTRALIA 44.1566 n EU 71.8392 n KOREA 0.0412 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.4297 Source: BSP (May 29, 2026)