Philippines Business Confidence Turns Negative in March

The Business Confidence Index in the Philippines turned negative at -24.3 in March 2026, reversing from 8.2 in the previous month. The pessimistic sentiment was driven by the ongoing US–Iran conflict, which pushed domestic fuel prices sharply higher. Additionally, firms cited expectations of weaker consumer spending, as elevated fuel costs continued to feed through into broader prices of basic goods and services. During the month, sentiment continued to weaken regarding financial conditions (-24.9 vs -19.2 in February), access to credit (-7.1 vs -0.6), and order books (-2.7 vs -0.1), while it became less positive regarding the volume of business activity (2.2 vs 3.5). Meanwhile, average capacity utilization in the industry and construction sectors improved (73.1% vs 69.6%), as operations picked up at the start of the summer season. The business outlook declined notably for the next three months (-17.3 vs 37.4), while confidence softened significantly for the coming year (11.7 vs 51.1).