Digital payment transactions coursed through PESONet and InstaPay surged to ₱13.18 trillion in the first five months of the year, with transaction volumes nearly tripling as Filipinos increasingly rely on digital channels for their daily needs. According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to maintain its hawkish monetary policy stance, according to international lenders, though economists remain divided on how many additional interest-rate increases will be needed to combat persistent supply-side inflation. Japanese financial...
A surplus in May helped narrow the overall balance of payments (BOP) deficit for the Philippines to $7.28 billion for the first five months of 2026 from $7.41 billion in the previous month. While the cumulative gap remains significant, the May performance provided a slight reprieve from the...
Borrowers will now have more time to settle salary-based consumption loans after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) increased the maximum repayment term to seven years from three years previously. In a statement on June 19, the BSP announced that it has updated regulations for salary-based...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has authorized banks to operate within digital marketplaces and platforms, allowing lenders to sell both proprietary and third-party products to expand their domestic reach, while explicitly prohibiting gambling-related services to protect consumers. These new...
Persistent price pressures are expected to keep the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on alert, but foreign observers are now urging a more dovish stance, including a potential year-long pause, following the central bank 's “restrained” rate hike to 4.75 percent. British banking giant...
The significant de-escalation of geopolitical tension with the signing of the peace agreement between the United States (US) and Iran will certainly improve market sentiment and lessen global uncertainty. This relative calm in geopolitical volatility has stabilized energy prices, with crude oil...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has lifted its five-year freeze on digital transfer fees, allowing lenders to adjust pricing for the country’s primary electronic fund channels. According to Memorandum No. M-2026-025, the Monetary Board (MB) approved “the lifting of the moratorium on...
President Marcos’ chief economic manager has raised concerns over the country’s high digital transaction costs, pushing for reforms that would align fees across public and private payment channels and slash charges from their current levels. Speaking during a media roundtable, Finance Secretary...
Citing sustained price pressures, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raised its key borrowing rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent from 4.5 percent, marking the monetary authority’s second consecutive benchmark hike. This hawkish move signals that despite a slight dip in recent headline...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) tightened its vetting procedures for top financial executives, ordering institutions to gather more granular personal data and secure explicit privacy waivers to weed out unqualified candidates from the banking system. Outlined in Circular No. 1236, the...
Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG has called for a jumbo 50-basis-point (bp) interest rate hike on Thursday, arguing that a larger increase would tackle growing price pressures head-on and avoid the need for more drastic tightening later. In a June 12 commentary, Deutsche Bank wrote that the Bangko...
