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Louise Maureen Simeon - The Philippine Star
April 29, 2025 | 12:00am
Towering buildings of the Ortigas business district are photographed on February 26, 2025.
STAR / Michael Varcas
Despite Trump’s punitive tariffs
MANILA, Philippines — It is quite early to tinker with economic growth targets for the year even with the potential impact of the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States, the head of the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said yesterday.
DBCC chair and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said there would be no revisions on the gross domestic product (GDP) outlook for 2025, at least for now.
This developed even after US President Donald Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs earlier this month. BMI estimates showed that the 17-percent reciprocal tariff slapped on the Philippines could reduce GDP by 1.1 percentage points.
This year, the DBCC is expecting that the economy could grow by at least six percent to as much as eight percent, higher than the 5.7-percent expansion in 2024.
“I think we are OK, the impact is minimal,” Pangandaman told reporters on the sidelines of the East Asia and the Pacific International Public Procurement Conference.
“And I know that Secretary (Frederick) Go and Secretary Cristina Roque are leaving for the US next week for the negotiations,” she added.
Washington’s protectionist policies, however, have prompted multilateral institutions to become less optimistic on the Philippines’ economic prospects for the year.
Last week, the World Bank slashed its GDP projection for the Philippines to 5.3 percent from 6.1 percent due to uncertain trade policies and slower global economic activities.
Similarly, the International Monetary Fund is expecting that the economy will grow by 5.5 percent, lower than its 6.1-percent earlier projection.
For the first quarter performance, Pangandaman is choosing to be more cautious in terms of GDP expansion.
“I hope it’s higher than expected. But then let’s be a little conservative because there are projects and programs that were withheld because of FLR (for later release) and the election ban,” Pangandaman said.
The government is set to announce the economy’s first quarter performance on May 8, Thursday.
In the same period last year, the economy grew by 5.9 percent.
