Government commits to ‘No Sugar Imports’ until 2026
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr., Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Administrator Paul Azcona, and SRA Board Member and farmers’ representative Dave Sanson met recently to address concerns over the low price of raw sugar seen during the first sugar bidding in Negros on 9 October.
Megawide wins multi-billion-peso contracts from Megaworld
Megawide Construction Corp. has secured two new multi-billion-peso contracts from property giant Megaworld Corp. to build residential towers in two of its township developments in Metro Manila, cementing their long-standing partnership.
Fed chairman suggests further US rate cut
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday signaled the likelihood of further monetary policy easing, saying recent data suggest little change in inflation and employment conditions since the central bank’s last rate cut in September.
IMF lowers global growth outlook as uncertainty mounts
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised down its global growth forecasts in its October 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO), reflecting the growing impact of trade protectionism, policy uncertainty, and weakening fundamentals across major economies. Global GDP growth is now expected to slow from 3.3 percent in 2024 to 3.2 percent in 2025, and further to 3.1 percent in 2026—a cumulative 0.2 percentage point drop from earlier pre-policy shift projections.
IMF sees persistent trade gap, slower output growth
The Philippines is expected to continue running a significant current account deficit this year, indicating persistent reliance on foreign capital to fund domestic spending, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook.
