Economy

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) continues to prove its resilience and efficiency, reporting a record-breaking collection of ₱85.459 billion in July 2025—exceeding its monthly target by ₱1.094 billion or 1.3%. Based on a preliminary report, this marks the BOC’s highest monthly collection for the year, reflecting a 6.4% increase from ₱80.355 billion in July 2024 and a notable rise from …

Global coffee giant Starbucks reported a sharper-than-expected 2% decline in comparable store sales worldwide for the April to June 2025 quarter, highlighting growing challenges in its key markets. Sales in North America, which includes its largest market, also dropped 2%, marking the company’s sixth consecutive quarterly decline in same-store sales in the United States. Internationally, sales were flat, while China—its …

State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) reported a solid 14% revenue growth in the first half of 2025, hitting ₱59 billion, up from ₱51.8 billion in the same period last year. In a statement last week, PAGCOR said the bulk of its revenues—₱53.4 billion—came from gaming operations and license fee shares, while ₱5.7 billion was generated from other services …

The Philippines’ trade deficit shrank by 8.8% in June 2025 as exports surged with double-digit growth, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released last week. The country posted a USD3.95 billion trade deficit, down from USD4.33 billion in June last year. This improvement came as export sales jumped by 26.1% to USD7.02 billion, up from USD5.57 …

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is charging full speed ahead with its digital transformation, introducing a suite of modernization programs aimed at streamlining taxpayer services, boosting compliance, and enhancing transparency—while riding high on a strong first-half performance. “We’ve been ramping up all these e-services so people no longer have to go to our offices or banks. You can now …

US-based Cerberus Capital Management is set to invest an additional ₱15 billion in the Philippines over the next 12 months, eyeing upgrades to its Subic shipyard and launching new ventures in logistics, energy, and transport infrastructure. The announcement came following the firm’s meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Washington, DC, where executives cited government support and encouraging operational …

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque remains hopeful that tariffs on Philippine exports to the United States could still be reduced, even as the rate has been officially set at 19 percent effective August 1, following an announcement by US President Donald Trump. While the current rate is lower than the previously announced 20 percent, it is still higher than the 17 …

Government revenues continued to climb in June 2025, driven by double-digit growth in tax collections, while public spending also rose to support economic activity, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed. Revenue collections in June hit ₱306.9 billion, up 3.5 percent from ₱296.5 billion in the same month last year. Tax collections rose by 12.35 percent to ₱280.1 …

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Century Pacific Food, Inc. (CPFI) for reducing the prices of its canned sardine products by P1. The price rollback, which took effect the same day, covers Ligo and 555 sardine brands. The company said the move was made “to ease the burden on consumers and support them during these times.” Roque …

Filipino consumers are entering the third quarter of 2025 with renewed optimism, buoyed by expectations of better job opportunities, higher incomes, and more stable inflation, according to the latest Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). While sentiment in the second quarter remained slightly downbeat—with the overall confidence index (CI) slipping from -13 percent in Q1 …