The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has downgraded its projection of the Philippines’ rice imports this year by 500,000 metric tons (MT) due to the 60-day import ban that will come into effect beginning next month. In its report on the global grains trade, the USDA’s Foreign...
Despite recent interest rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), inflation hitting nearly six-year lows in recent months, and still-muted second-quarter growth in some sectors, further reductions in key borrowing costs are seen as necessary. “We think the second-quarter GDP [gross...
As Filipinos evolve alongside technology, the marketplace tradition once reserved for the hustle and bustle of wet markets is finding new life in the digital realm. The art of “tawad” or haggling is seen growing in the world of online shopping, yet its brushstroke still paints the same...
With rice prices still seen to have dropped further recently, the central bank has forecast that increases in consumer prices likely slowed even more in July, following the five-and-a-half-year lows of 1.4 percent in June and 1.3 percent in May. As such, private-sector economists said that the...
Annual consumer price increases slowed further to 1.8 percent in March 2025, down from 2.1 percent in February, as food price hikes eased mainly due to lower rice prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. March inflation was the slowest in nearly five years, or since May 2020—at...
Consumer price hikes dropped sharply to 2.1 percent in February, marking the lowest rate in five months, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Data from the PSA on Wednesday, March 5, revealed headline inflation slowed significantly from the 2.9 percent rate in January. It...
Private-sector economists polled by Manila Bulletin are expecting the Philippine central bank to continue reducing key interest rates during the upcoming monetary policy meeting as majority of expectations leaned towards inflation slowing slightly in January. Economists monitoring the economic...
Consumer prices in December accelerated for the third consecutive month, but a sharp decline in rice prices helped ease the impact, particularly on poor households, with rice inflation slowing to its lowest level in three years. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that the...
With inflation within the target range for 2024 and projected to remain so in 2025, economists polled by the Manila Bulletin expect the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to continue reducing key borrowing costs this year. Despite headline inflation rates increasing incrementally month-on-month,...
Despite potential price increases in some sectors, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) anticipates that the rate of increase in consumer prices will remain controlled and within the desired range this month. In a statement on Friday, Dec. 27, the central bank projected that December 2024...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its inflation forecast for the Philippines due to moderating price pressures, particularly in food and core inflation. In its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) report, the Manila-based multilateral institution revised its inflation forecast for the...
Rising prices of pork and chicken during the holiday season, coupled with the continued impact of African Swine Fever (ASF), drove up the Philippines’ inflation rate in November, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. National Statistician and PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa...
