Q2 external debt up 14.4% to $148.87B By Cai U. Ordinario
H
WORLD » A5
ISRAEL ESCALATES GAZA OFFENSIVE, 32 DEAD AS HOSTAGE FAMILIES PLEAD FOR CEASEFIRE
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
IGHER government borrowings led to a doubledigit growth in the country’s external debt in the second quarter of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Based on the data, external debt increased by 14.4 percent to $148.87 billion as of the end of June 2025 compared to the same period last year. BSP said the growth was driven by the national government’s bond issuances as well as the foreign financing accessed by local banks. “The increase in external debt was driven primarily by borrow-
ings, which included bond issuances by the national government amounting to $5.83 billion and external financing tapped by local banks amounting to $3.44 billion,” BSP said. Meanwhile, compared to the previous quarter, the country’s external debt grew 1.5 percent on the back of the depreciation of the United States dollar. “The increase in external debt for Q2 [second quarter] 2025 was primarily due to valuation effects from the depreciation of the US dollar. This increased the US dollar-equivalent of borrowings denominated in other currencies by $1.49 billion,” BSP said. The data showed the net acquisi-
tion of Philippine debt securities amounting to $660.96 million also contributed to the increase. Meanwhile, net repayments that amounted to $315.67 million helped temper the increase in the country’s external debt. External debt stock was equivalent to 31.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, slightly better than the 31.5 percent recorded in the previous quarter. “Metrics show that the external debt stock remained sustainable,” the BSP said in a statement. As of the end of June 2025, the country’s short-term external debt based on the remaining maturity concept (STRM) stood at $28.63 billion.
The BSP said the STRM accounts for maturing external obligations within the next 12 months. The central bank said it presents a more comprehensive picture of the economy’s capacity to service its debt in the near term. This level, BSP said, remained well-covered by the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) of $106 billion, providing 3.7 times cover for short-term obligations. The country’s GIR-to-STRM debt ratio remains at par with emerging economy peers. Meanwhile, BSP said debt service ratio, another indicator of capacity to service debt that compares the country’s loan payments See “Q2,” 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
7-MO GOCC SUBSIDIES DOWN 20% TO ₧62.23B www.businessmirror.com.ph
S
n
Monday, September 15, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 337
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
UBSIDIES handed out by the national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) declined during the first seven months of the year compared to a year ago.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the national government gave a total of P62.233 billion in subsidies from January to July this year to 38 GOCCs. The amount, however, is lower by 20.13 percent than the P77.925 billion extended in the same period last year. The government provides subsidies to GOCCs to cover their operations that are not supported
by corporate revenues, or to fund specific programs or projects. In July alone, subsidies to state-run firms also declined by 9.17 percent to P9.735 billion from P10.719 billion in the same month a year ago. According to John Paolo Rivera, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the decline in subsidies suggests that some GOCCs See “7-mo,” A2
PCAB WARNS VS. GROUPS THAT MISUSE NAME, LISTS LEGIT FORA
T
HE Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) has warned the public against certain groups and individuals “illegally” using the name of the agency and its officers. In a public advisory issued on Sunday, PCAB said: “These groups are allegedly engaging in unauthorized activities related to the submission, renewal, and release of contractor’s license applications.” The accreditation body for contractors in the Philippines stressed that all official transactions, communications, and pay-
ments are conducted “exclusively” through PCAB’s official channels which are the PCAB Office, PCAB Online Licensing Portal, PCAB Licensing Verification Website, PCAB Official Email (pcab@construction.gov.ph), PCAB Official Mobile hotline (09178482427) and Facebook Messenger (facebook.com/dti.ciap.pcab). “PCAB does not authorize any third-party consultants, agents, or individuals to collect or file application documents, fees, or payments on its behalf,” the agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry See “PCAB,” A2
BusinessMirror
Freshly Brewed
PART 1
GUARDING AGAINST FINANCIAL SCAMS BSP’S ELMORE O. CAPULE WALKS US THROUGH AFASA, THE NEW ANTI-SCAM LAW »A12
A YEN FOR GROWTH A crane barge and support vessel sit on Manila Bay as skyscrapers define the city skyline. In Osaka, Japan, during the Philippine Economic Briefing, Finance Secretary Ralph G.
Recto announced plans to re-enter the Japanese debt market with samurai bonds next year, stressing Japanese investors will play a larger role in the Philippines’ growth. He also affirmed commitments to transparency, reforms, and good governance to address long-standing concerns about corruption—taking care to ensure that the country’s infrastructure and public finances remain investmentgrade. NONIE REYES
Groups see low costs, competition with ICI By Andrea E. San Juan
L
@andreasanjuan
OCAL industries are pinning their hopes on the newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to “dismantle entrenched networks” that inflate costs and distort competition. In a statement on Sunday, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said: “The ICI’s rare blend of execution know-how, forensic financial skills, and investigative rigor is exactly the kind of institutional muscle FPI has been calling for.” “It operationalizes our vision of a procurement and infrastructure ecosystem where compliance is rewarded, corruption is punished, and Philippine industry competes on quality—not on who can game the system,” the group of local manufacturers and producers added. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier issued Executive Order 94, creating the ICI, a fact-finding body which he tasked to conduct a probe and recommend the filing of charges related to anomalous flood-control projects and other public works within the last 10 years.
FPI, the country’s umbrella organization of manufacturers and producers, underscored that it has long championed a “clean, rulesbased” market to ensure a level playing field for compliant manufacturers, anchored on strict Philippine National Standards (PNS) compliance to shield legitimate producers from “being undercut by substandard or smuggled goods.” This vision of the industry group will be “directly reinforced” by the ICI by ensuring that procurement and project execution are devoid of “favoritism, fraud, and corruption.” As such, the group of local industries said a cleaner procurement environment will entice higher-quality bidders, many of whom are more likely to source from accredited local manufacturers, which is seen to help expand market opportunities for FPI’s members. Further, FPI explained that transparent and accountable infrastructure spending, especially in critical flood control projects, will mean more works completed to specification, on time, and within budget, “creating sustained demand for quality local inputs such as steel, cement, and fabricated components.”
Elizabeth Lee, FPI Chairperson, said: “The ICI’s work will clean up a decade of flood-control anomalies, restore trust in public works, and cut the corruption premium that drives up costs.” Lee said this means cheaper financing, stronger investor confidence, and a manufacturing sector that “wins on standards, integrity, and quality” now and for years to come. In a separate statement on Sunday, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the largest business group in the country, commended the creation of the ICI, calling a “strong signal of the President’s political will to address infrastructure anomalies, especially in flood control.” PCCI said to likewise “strongly supports” the appointment of “independent professionals and technical experts” to the Commission. “Former Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways [DPWH], Rogelio Singson brings unmatched experience in managing large-scale projects and navigating on-the-ground realities, bottlenecks, and corruption risks in procurement and construction,” PCCI said in its statement.
It also hailed the appointment of former chair of the Procurement Policy Board–Technical Support Office (PS-GPPB-TSO) Rossana Fajardo, saying she offers “institutional knowledge” in public procurement, economics, and governance—critical, it said, to addressing systemic loopholes in procurement processes. PCCI said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong “adds investigative rigor and accountability, leveraging his law enforcement background to strengthen evidence-gathering and oversight.” To ensure the success of the fact-finding body, PCCI said three “foundational elements” are non-negotiable: (1) robust funding to recruit and maintain a highly competent technical secretariat; (2) complete independence, free from political and external influence; and (3) seamless, unwavering interagency support where all government bodies must provide timely access to documents and personnel, as well as protocols with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to ensure referrals are acted upon within strict, enforceable timeframes.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.1740 n JAPAN 0.3884 n UK 77.6309 n HK 7.3409 n CHINA 8.0319 n SINGAPORE 44.6253 n AUSTRALIA 38.0722 n EU 67.0937 n KOREA 0.0411 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2403 Source: BSP (September 12, 2025)