UMIC shift raises borrowing costs

Climbing to upper-middle-income-country (UMIC) status comes with a trade-off: the Philippines faces a looming decline in access to concessional official development assistance (ODA), or low-interest loans extended by the country’s multilateral and bilateral development partners.

- By DERCO ROSAL

However, for President Marcos’ economic team, the country’s improved income status also presents an opportunity to ramp up public-private partnerships (PPPs), deepen domestic debt markets, and tap alternative financing sources.

This comes as the Philippines finally achieved its long-standing goal of attaining UMIC status after posting a record-high gross national income (GNI) per capita in 2025.