PH government aims to boost business confidence

Malacañang has pledged to strengthen investor confidence in the Philippine economy, following the latest findings from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' Business Expectations Survey (BES).

''We will try our best, the administration will try its best to maintain the status or to be better than that so that we can encourage more investors to invest in our country,'' said Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro in a briefing on Monday.

The BES, conducted from January 8 to March 1, 2025, revealed a more optimistic business outlook for the second quarter, with the overall confidence index rising to 45.4%, up from 40.3% in the last quarter of 2024.

“For the next 12 months, the business outlook remained buoyant, with the overall CI holding steady at 56.4%, unchanged from the fourth quarter 2024 survey round,” the BSP reported.

Meanwhile, the survey also indicated that firms anticipate a gradual rise in inflation throughout 2025. Businesses project inflation to average 3.2% in the first quarter, 3.3% in the second quarter, and 3.4% over the next 12 months.

The BSP reassured that these inflation expectations remain within the government's target range of 2% to 4% for 2025-2026. — DVM, GMA Integrated News