CEOs remain optimistic amid headwinds — survey

Majority of chief executive officers (CEO) in the Philippines have a slightly optimistic outlook for the next 12 months amid heightened global uncertainty and inflationary pressures, a survey showed.

In the Ernst & Young (EY) CEO Outlook Survey, 62% of the respondents said they are “somewhat optimistic” on the local business environment for this year.

“Caution is driven by the inflationary pressure that remains to be here in the local environment,” Noel P. Rabaja, head of strategy and transactions services group of EY-member SGV & Co., told reporters on Thursday.

“Aside from that, it is really the global uncertainties that we continue to experience, especially now, given the recent news on global trade policies,” he added.

The EY CEO Outlook Pulse survey, conducted by EY-Parthenon, gathered the perspectives of 1,200 leading CEOs globally, 50 of which are CEOs in the Philippines.

“The survey reveals that Philippine CEOs are confident, but not overly so, in their near-term outlook. They are cautiously optimistic about domestic growth, recognizing that local challenges tend to have a more direct and immediate impact on their businesses compared to global issues,” the report said.

“This perspective also reflects a conservative view that global headwinds might pose greater risk to local enterprises than to their counterparts in more mature economies.”

On the other hand, Philippine CEOs expressed high confidence when asked from a global (46%) and sector-specific (48%) perspective.

“This is particularly relevant given the Philippine economy’s dependence on imported key commodities and revenue streams linked to external markets, such as the business process outsourcing sector and overseas Filipino workers’ remittances,” it said.

The survey also revealed CEOs’ confidence about growth in their own sector.

“This is largely attributed to their expertise marked by their possession of deep insights into industry trends, competition, and market opportunities,” EY said.

At the same time, the survey showed 86% of the Philippine CEOs prioritize investing in new areas through joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

“It is interesting to note that there are a lot of Philippine CEOs considering M&A opportunities in 2025,” said Mr. Rabaja.

“The implication of that is that there is going to be more M&A transactions that we will see in the Philippines and that may attract more foreign investors coming in by way of participating in the transactions,” he added.

This participation, he said, will help drive foreign investment growth in the Philippines.

The report also showed that 82% of the business leaders are prioritizing investments in existing technology stack.

“One thing highlighted in the survey is the fact that Philippine CEOs are looking into accelerating investment in technology adoptions,” said Mr. Rabaja.

“This means that there are many corporations looking at accelerating their digital transformation,” he added.

According to the report, Philippine CEOs are adopting a tech-forward approach with 80% of the leaders recognizing the importance of investing in emerging technologies.

However, the CEOs have a cautious outlook on costs with 14% expressed pessimism on the cost of inputs and doing business, while 26% expressed pessimism in passing price increases to customers.

“While CEOs expect inflation to align with forecasts, they recognize potential risks that could skew this trajectory. As a result, a key watchout is the ability to transfer costs to customers if input prices rise more than anticipated,” the report said.

“To prepare for these risks, Philippine CEOs are planning to adopt strategies that enhance their operational capabilities through strategic initiatives like M&A and joint ventures to unlock efficiencies and potential cost synergies,” it added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile