This paper examines the Philippines’s 2004 Article IV Consultation and Post-Program Monitoring Discussions. GDP growth has exceeded expectations, but unemployment remains high. With exports staging a recovery and consumption boosted by overseas remittances and the election, GDP grew by 6.1...

This report reviews the Financial Sector Assessment Program of the Philippines on International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. The report was prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as part...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Improving fiscal transparency has been a priority in the Philippines over recent years. The government’s public financial management reform strategy has helped initiate a wide variety of reforms, which are beginning to bear fruit. In light of this, the evaluation against the...

This paper assesses the distributional impact of the recent VAT reform in the Philippines and evaluates alternative methods to mitigate the effects of the reform on poor households. The reform was progressive and relatively well targeted. To alleviate the impact of the reform on the poor,...

This selected issues paper provides background on evolution, highlight the rationale behind the key changes, describe the most important extensions and their implications, and to then present several policy applications, which played a part in informing the 2023 Article IV discussions with the...