Seeing opportunities beyond global economic uncertainties

At the open forum of the recent Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of SM Investments Corp. held on April 30 at the Conrad Hotel in SM MOA, I was asked what I believed to be question of the day, if not the question of the year: “What would be the effects of the US tariffs on the company?”

- AMANDO M. TETANGCO, JR.

I understood the genuine concern as the ripple effects of the new US policy were being felt on a global scale, not sparing even their staunch allies like the Philippines. It was important to analyze its possible repercussions against the backdrop of the Philippines’ own economic structure in recent years, and to understand not only how a company like SM can weather the headwinds of such a policy but also why the Philippines might be in a better position to rise up to the challenge.

The Philippine economy continues to post sound macroeconomic fundamentals in terms of continued GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth, declining inflation and robust demand that is supported by resilient remittances.

The good news is inflation has been on a steady decline. The last figure was 1.4% in April from 1.8% in March. Notably, this is the lowest inflation rate since November 2019, which was 1.2%, thus bringing the national average inflation rate in the four-month period to 2%.