People wait for jeepneys along a road in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Monday, May 5, 2025. The Philippines is scheduled to announce its gross domestic product (GDP) figures on May 8. Photographer: Geric Cruz/Bloomberg
MANILA: The softer-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter was not entirely a letdown, but it may be the best kind of expansion that the Philippines could muster this year amid the tariff-induced global uncertainty that’s hurting business sentiment.
Miguel Chanco, chief emerging Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the US trade war would continue to weigh on companies’ expansion plans, which could prevent investments from making a bigger contribution to gross domestic product (GDP).
