Philippines cuts 2025 GDP growth goal, trims inflation view
The economy is now targeted to expand 5.5 per cent-6.5 per cent this year from a previous goal of 6 per cent-8 per cent, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said in a mobile-phone message on Thursday (Jun 26).
The downward revision underscores the mounting challenges to the Philippine economy, which expanded slower than expected last quarter, partly as the Trump administration's tariff threats hurt global sentiment. The South-east Asian nation that's reliant on fuel imports is also vulnerable to oil price shocks due to Israel-Iran tensions.
Recto said the government's inflation assumption for 2025 has also been narrowed to 2 per cent-3 per cent from a previous outlook of 2 per cent-4 per cent.
The revised outlook supports the case for further monetary policy easing from the central bank, especially as traders and governments worldwide remain on edge due to the Middle East conflict, and as Trump continues to wage a trade war.
Although the Philippines is less trade-dependent than neighbouring countries, its exports to the US are now subject to a 10 per cent tariff, which could rise to 17 per cent if the country fails to get Washington to agree to a reduction. BLOOMBERG
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
22 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
Musk announces forming of 'America Party' in further break from Trump, World News
WASHINGTON -The tattered bromance between Republican President Donald Trump and his main campaign financier Elon Musk took another fractious turn on Saturday (July 5) when the space and automotive billionaire announced the formation of a new political party, saying Trump's "big, beautiful" tax bill would bankrupt America. A day after asking his followers on his X platform whether a new US political party should be created, Musk declared in a post on Saturday that "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!" he wrote. The announcement from Musk comes after Trump signed his self-styled "big, beautiful" tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk fiercely opposed. Musk, who became the word's richest man thanks to his Tesla car company and his SpaceX satellite firm, spent hundreds of millions on Trump's re-election and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president's second term aimed at slashing government spending. The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the bill. Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill. Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government. Republicans have expressed concern that Musk's on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections. Asked on X what was the one thing that made him go from loving Trump to attacking him, Musk said: "Increasing the deficit from an already insane $2T (S$2.5 trillion) under Biden to $2.5T. This will bankrupt the country." He referenced the growth of Greece from subjugation to preeminence in the ancient world in another tweet, saying: "The way we're going to crack the uniparty system is by using a variant of how Epaminondas shattered the myth of Spartan invincibility at Leuctra: Extremely concentrated force at a precise location on the battlefield." There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk's announcement. [[nid:719722]] The feud with Trump, often described as one between the world's richest man and the world's most powerful, has led to several precipitous falls in Tesla's share price. The stock soared after Trump's November reelection and hit a high of more than $488 in December, before losing more than half of its value in April and closing last week out at $315.35. Despite Musk's deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly will be a tall order, given that it has dominated American political life for more than 160 years, while Trump's approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 per cent, despite often divisive policies.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Israeli military says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The Israeli military said on Sunday that it has intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel. Sirens were activated across several areas in Israel in accordance with protocol, it said. Israel threatened Yemen's Houthi movement with a naval and air blockade if it the Iran-aligned group persists with attacks on Israel, in what it says is solidarity with Gaza. Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade. Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes. REUTERS
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Elon Musk says he has created a new US political party
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said Saturday (Jul 5) he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's "one-party system". The world's richest person - and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election - had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has clashed with Trump over the president's massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the US debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that. "When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." Musk cited a poll - uploaded on Friday, US Independence Day - in which he asked whether respondents "want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system" that has dominated US politics for some two centuries. The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses. "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!" he posted on Saturday. Musk also shared a meme depicting a two-headed snake and the caption "End the Uniparty". "LASER-FOCUS" ON VULNERABLE LAWMAKERS It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting "debt slavery". He vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the Bill, which experts say will pile an extra US$3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit. "They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk said earlier this week. After Musk heavily criticised the flagship spending Bill - which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law - Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses. "We'll have to take a look," the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002. On Friday after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become "the deciding vote" on key legislation. "One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," Musk posted on X. All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years. Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote - as businessman Ross Perot's independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George HW Bush's re-election bid resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton's victory.
