Posting a double-digit growth, the Philippines registered a net foreign liability of $68.3 billion as of end-June, based on its international investment position (IIP). According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), this increase was driven by inward foreign investments outpacing the...
Revising its narrower forecast earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) now sees the Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP) deficit to widen this year and next year due to widening trade-in-goods gap. As of September, the BSP is projecting the BOP hole to widen to 1.4 percent of the...
Driven by decreases in both principal and interest payments, the Philippines’ external debt service burden (DSB) declined to $6.72 billion by the end of the first semester, from $7.16 billion in the same period in 2024. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the 6.2-percent...
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has announced a standardized ₱15 service fee for all inter-institution cash-in transactions made via InstaPay, effective Oct. 1. In a statement, the Ayala-led bank said the new fee will apply to all cash-in transfers, including those sent to popular...
Pervasive corruption in the Philippines is preventing the country from realizing its full economic potential, despite President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. making “steady progress” on his reform agenda, according to the think tank Capital Economics. In its Asia Economic Outlook report for the...
Driven by the decline in condominium unit prices, housing price growth in Metro Manila grew at its slowest pace in one and a half years in the second quarter of the year, a sluggish rate not seen since property prices contracted in late 2023. According to the residential property price index (RPPI)...
Interested players planning to enter the Philippine market are given until Nov. 30 to complete their applications, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will stop accepting digital banking license applications in December. This planned closure follows the policy-setting Monetary Board’s (MB)...
Long-term time deposits in the Philippine banking industry plummeted 95 percent in recent months, as Filipino depositors may have withdrawn or opted not to renew their placements following the removal of a key tax exemption. “So the five-years-plus-one-day time deposit product of our member...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported a decline in net earnings for the first half of the year, driven by steeper reduction in revenues than in expenses. Data from the BSP showed that the central bank’s net income fell by 17.8 percent to ₱70.3 billion in January to June this year, from...
A larger balance of payments (BOP) surplus in August narrowed the country’s cumulative deficit for the first eight months of the year to its lowest level in five months, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The latest data from the BSP showed that the BOP, which reflects the...
Two global banking giants have flagged political and fiscal challenges posing near-term risks to the Philippine economy, especially in the aftermath of a corruption scandal involving massive public spending on ineffective flood control projects in recent years. While “there is a strong pipeline...
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson lauded on Saturday, Sept. 20, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ' move to tighten the rules on large cash transactions by capping withdrawals at P500,000 per banking day. Lacson, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigating the...
