PH economy to hike by 6%, affordable food prices await in 2025 - DOF
Erin Devanadera
The Philippine economy is projected to grow significantly, reaching over 6% in 2025 and 2026, driven by key economic factors such as strong domestic demand, easing monetary policies, and lower food prices, according to the Department of Finance (DOF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Consumption growth will be supported by lower food prices and gradual monetary policy easing," the IMF stated in their World Economic Outlook, highlighting key drivers of the country’s economic growth.
“Growth for 2025-2026 is projected to be primarily driven by domestic demand, namely consumption and investment,” the IMF added, emphasizing the importance of economic factors in sustaining the Philippine economy.
In attributing this projection, the survey also showed data highlighting strong domestic demand in consumption and investment due to the sustainment of public investments, lower borrowing costs, and legislative reforms advocating for foreign direct investments (FDI).
“Investment growth is expected to pick up on the back of a sustained public investment push, gradually declining borrowing costs, and acceleration in the implementation of public-private partnership projects and foreign direct investments (FDI), following recent legislative reforms,” they added.
With strong domestic consumers and investors, the Department of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto expressed his confidence in the economy's expansion from 2025 to 2026, backed up by the IMF’s World Economic Outlook at 6.1% for 2025 and 6.3% for 2026, surpassing the country’s 5.2% economic growth in 2024.
“I think it [fourth quarter growth] will be faster than Q3 (third quarter). Q3 was 5.2 [percent]. I think it will definitely be faster than Q3,” said Recto during a recent briefing with Bloomberg Television on January 20, 2025.
“Possible. If it hits 6 [percent] in the fourth quarter, I’ll be happy with that,” he continued.
The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) also predicts that the Philippines will become one of the leading Southeast Asian countries with a high gross domestic product (GDP), serving as a goal in improving economic conditions in the country.
“We kept the growth forecast at 6.3%. That’s among the highest in the region, and that’s partly because the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has started to also ease monetary policy,” AMRO Chief Economist Hoe Ee Khor told reporters on January 21, 2025.