ADB approves $1.5 billion to support Philippines amid Middle East conflict

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $1.5 billion to help the Philippines shield families from rising prices and sustain essential public services as the Middle East conflict pressures its economy, according to a press release issued on 24 September 2026 from Manila. The financing will secure fuel supplies, maintain affordable power and health services, keep food and medicines within reach, and support workers whose incomes are at risk. It will also help bring affected overseas Filipino workers home and assist them upon return. The approval was announced by ADB President Masato Kanda. It marks one of the Bank’s largest crisis interventions in the country.

The Philippines imports nearly all its fuel and relies heavily on imported fertilizers, exposing it to sharp swings in global prices. Oil accounts for about a third of its primary energy supply and is sourced largely from the Middle East. A significant share of fertilizer imports also comes directly or indirectly from the region. Higher prices raise transport costs and the cost of growing rice and other crops. These pressures have deepened the country’s vulnerability to the ongoing regional conflict.

The Middle East remains a major destination for overseas Filipino workers, with about 1.1 million deployed to the region in 2025. Workers there sent home about 18% of the Philippines’ $35.6 billion in total remittances in 2025, helping their families meet daily expenses. Labor deployment to the region has declined substantially this year amid the conflict. The ADB financing will support the government’s response to these disruptions. It aims to reach millions of poor and vulnerable Filipinos and their families.

“Every week this crisis continues to ask more of people who have little left to give,” said ADB President Masato Kanda. “They have a right to expect that the institutions serving them will meet their struggle with equal resolve. With this financing, we are backing the Philippines’ determination to keep its people secure and its future within its own hands.” The Assistance for Greater Resilience and Alleviation of Poverty program will help finance the government’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport. Support flows through ADB’s Countercyclical Support Facility, its region-wide crisis financing mechanism.

Government measures include fare discounts, subsidies for provincial and small electric cooperatives, and fuel and fertilizer subsidies. Medical relief packages and cash assistance will reach poor and vulnerable households, public transport operators and drivers, small-scale farmers, and fisherfolk. The approval builds on ADB’s broader regional response, which has previously provided about $500 million to help Southeast Asian economies weather the conflict’s impact. ADB serves as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ main bank. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members, 50 of them from the region.