DAVOS, Switzerland — Underscoring that the ₱6.326 trillion national budget for 2025 is the government's most powerful tool to deliver the biggest economic benefits to Filipinos, finance secretary Ralph Recto disclosed that the Marcos Jr. administration will continue to push for the passage of its remaining tax measures to offset the impact of a slower rate-cutting cycle on the government’s debt service burden.

In a statement to Bloomberg at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Recto mentioned that one of the pending tax measures was expected to give the government an additional ₱300 billion in revenues in the next four years, which could help cut budget deficit and debt.

“We do have a few revenue measures in Congress right now. We expect to pass them before the end of the year. Maybe during the end of session—May to June—after the elections,” the secretary noted.

“It’s also preparing for higher interest rates just in case so that we have additional revenues,” he added.

Among the priority measures of the Department of Finance (DOF) are the value-added tax (VAT) on digital service providers (DSP), imposition of excise tax on single-use plastics (SUPs), package 4 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime and reform on the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge (MVUC).

Among these, however, only the VAT on DSP made it out of the legislative mill last year and was signed into law.

In earlier pronouncement, the finance chief had declared that there was no need for new taxes in the country, but in a change of view, he now believes that it is important for the executive department to have new tax bills finally signed into law amid expectations of a slower decline in interest rates at home and abroad.

With that said, many finance and economic analysts expressed belief that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) might also have to slow down its rate-cutting cycle to avoid pressuring the peso, which suggests that borrowing costs may not go down quickly.

For this year, the Marcos administration is planning to borrow ₱507.41 billion from foreign creditors to help bridge its budget deficit. Of that amount, commercial borrowings are pegged at ₱197.75 billion while the remaining ₱309.7 billion will be in the form of low-cost concessional financing.