DBM’s de Leon signals spending-driven Q2 growth

BUDGET Secretary Kim Robert C. de Leon said growth in the second quarter is expected to rebound from its dismal 2.8% performance in the first three months of the year, though much will depend on how agencies deploy the funds released to them.

“We saw a difference in terms of releases so it now depends on how the agencies are  implementing their respective budgets. Because of course, government spending plays a role in our overall growth,” Mr. de Leon said on the sidelines of an event last week.

“It’s now up to the agencies, they have until June to actually implement their projects and hopefully that will contribute to our Q2 growth,” he added.

Mr. de Leon said, “We really would like to catch up after the Q1 growth and the inflation that we’ve had. So we’re trying to really be bullish about it and utilize whatever we can to support the economy,” Budget Secretary  told reporters at the sidelines of an event on Thursday.

Inflation settled at 6.8% in May, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, easing from 7.2% in April. A year earlier, inflation had been 1.3%.

This marked the first instance of a month-on-month cooling of inflation since November 2025.

Still, May became the third month in a row that headline inflation topped the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2%-4% target range, bringing the year-to-date average to 4.5%.

The 2.8% GDP growth posted in the first quarter had been the weakest since the 3.8% contraction in the first quarter of 2021. It was also below the government’s 5-6% target for the year.

Aside from government spending, Mr. de Leon said household spending and private investments should also provide support to economic growth.

“As for the government, we’ll try to do our share in terms of ensuring the committed public spending for Q2 is available and is being spent accordingly by the agencies consistent with rules. And then for the investments on the part of the private sector, the government is facilitating the necessary investments to push through as it impacts the economic activities in general.” — Aaron Michael C. Sy