WB slashes growth forecasts for PH

Amid a looming global trade war, the World Bank slashed its 2025 and 2026 growth forecasts for the Philippines to levels that would bring two-year economic expansion to their slowest pace post-pandemic.

- DERCO ROSAL

According to the Washington-based multilateral lender’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update report for April 2025, published on April 24, the Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) is seen expanding by only 5.3 percent this year, before inching up to 5.4 percent next year.

If the World Bank's latest projections for the Philippines materialize, they would be the lowest growth rates since 2021, when the economy recovered after gradually reopening from the most stringent Covid-19 lockdowns that dragged the country to its worst post-war recession in 2020.

These would also fall below the government's more ambitious six-to-eight-percent annual economic growth target for the next two years. National Socioeconomic Planner Arsenio Balisacan had previously conceded that the upper end of the goal “may be unrealistic” even as this target remains, considering global trade dynamics.

Back in October 2024, the World Bank was more optimistic, projecting Philippine GDP growth at six percent for 2025 and 6.1 percent for 2026.

As global trade tensions intensi-fied after United States (US) President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs imposed on America's trading partners during his so-called "Liberation Day" last April 2, the World Bank had postponed the launch of its latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, which was originally sched-uled for release on April 9.