4-5% growth likely this year as corruption fallout continues, says Teves

PHILIPPINE GROWTH is expected to come in at 4-5% this year due to the lingering effects of the public works corruption scandal, former Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said.

Mr. Teves, who headed the Department of Finance during the Arroyo administration, said: “I don’t see the economy growing more than 5% unless there are some more changes.”

He made the remarks in an appearance on the Money Talks with Cathy Yang program on One News on Thursday.

He said effective reforms should bring about accountability “(that) will really be felt by the people, resulting in improved levels of confidence.

Any such momentum will likely build in the second half, he said.

The economy grew 4.4% in 2025, the weakest reading in five years. If the pandemic is excluded, it was the weakest since the 3.9% expansion in 2011.

He urged the government to reform the budgeting process and further improve the ease of doing business.

“All of these things are necessary to grow better than what most economists are predicting, which is about 5%,” he said.

Mr. Teves also argued that unprogrammed appropriations — budget items for which no definite funding has been nailed down — not all bad.

“Unprogrammed appropriations, for as long as they’re limited, well-studied, and probably not more than 2-3% of the total budget, will still be important,” Mr. Teves said.

Former Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has called for a cap on unprogrammed appropriations of no more than 5% of the national budget.

The P150.9 billion in unprogrammed appropriations in 2026 amounted to 2.21% of the national budget.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. vetoed unprogrammed appropriations worth P92.5 billion in signing the budget into law.

He noted that the negative reputation of such appropriations stems from legislators using them to fund pet projects.

“These are the things that are difficult and should not be tolerated. Things like funding for foreign-assisted projects, counterpart funds… should remain programmed appropriations and not unprogrammed,” he said. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante