PH econ team to hold special meeting on fuel excise tax suspension next week

The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) — which must recommend suspending excise taxes on fuel products before the President implements it — is set to hold a special meeting next week to discuss the matter.

According to the Department of Budget Management (DBM), which chairs the DBCC, the body will act collectively on matters of such scale.

“The full fiscal implications of a potential excise tax suspension, along with corresponding policy responses, will be thoroughly evaluated by the DBCC in a special meeting scheduled next week,” DBM Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran said in a mobile message.

“As always, our approach will be guided by the need to strike a prudent balance between delivering immediate relief to our people and preserving medium-term fiscal sustainability and macroeconomic stability,” she added.

Under Republic Act 12316 signed into law by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 25, the President may suspend or reduce excise taxes on fuel upon the recommendation of the DBCC, in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary.

The suspension or reduction, however, can only be done for a maximum of three months when the average Dubai crude oil price based on Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel for one month. Brent crude prices have been hovering at $103 per barrel.

Locally, pump prices have been hiked for the past 11 straight weeks for gasoline, and 13 for both diesel and kerosene, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Marcos on Tuesday also declared a state of national energy emergency and ordered the adoption of a Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT), to ensure energy supply stability, and support key sectors such as transport, agriculture, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Chaired by the DBM, the DBCC counts as members the Department of Finance (DOF), the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev), and the Office of the President.

GMA News Online has also reached out to the DepDev and the DOF regarding the implications of such a suspension on the economy and government collections, but has not received a response as of this posting.

DepDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier warned the country’s inflation rate could shoot up to double-digit levels as diesel prices are seen to grow 176% to P162.50 per liter in May should crude hit $200 per barrel, the “most severe scenario.”

Inflation clocked in at 2.4% in February, the fastest in 13 months since the 2.9% in January 2025, due mainly to higher prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages, and housing and utilities. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News