Philippine economic managers have reduced the country’s growth target to 5% to 6% for 2026, down from the earlier projection of 6% to 7% set by the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC).
“The reason for scaling down the growth– it rose from the realities that we’ve been seeing both globally and domestically,” said Department of Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
He noted that while the global climate showed slight improvement in late 2025, recovery has not returned to pre-April expectations.
“We expect growth perhaps in the first quarter to be…at least [in the] first half to be still quite not as rosy as we would want it to be, but it I think with the improvements we’re putting in place, the budget, and in the various offices–we expect to see faster growth in the second half and in the succeeding years,” Balisacan added.
The downgrade follows slower growth in the third quarter of 2025, when the economy expanded only 4% as infrastructure spending was curbed amid flood control controversies.
In December, Balisacan already warned the Philippines may miss its revised 2025 target of 5.5% to 6.5%.
Officials remain hopeful that reforms and fiscal measures will help accelerate growth beyond mid-2026.