Stronger employment facilitation at the local level, coupled with increased job-seeking activity and expanded government training programs, helped raise the country’s employment rate to 96.1 percent in May, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported on Wednesday, July 9. DOLE...
ILOILO CITY – The inflation rate in Western Visayas dropped in consecutive months in the first half of the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority-6 said on Tuesday. The agency said inflation went down from four percent in January to 0.6 percent in June. Inflation rate was 3.1 percent in...
Germany-based Deutsche Bank stated that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) cumulative 1.25-percent interest rate reductions have been unable to lift lending growth, as lower borrowing costs were not enough to outweigh persistent economic uncertainty. This follows BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona...
As manufacturers experience only mild producer price inflation, central banks in emerging markets (EMs), including the Philippines, are expected to cut interest rates some more in the near term. “Encouragingly, the price components of the PMIs [purchasing managers’ indices] fell again in June....
Citing elevated oil prices and the recent depreciation streak of the Philippine peso, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raised its inflation forecast for June, with the upper band at nearly two percent. According to the BSP’s statement, released on Monday, June 30, consumer price increases...
A slightly higher inflation rate that remains below two percent in June would allow the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to cut interest rates some more in August, economists said. In a June 27 report, Deutsche Bank Research economist Junjie Huang said headline inflation could have inched up to...
Downward inflation across the region would allow Asian central banks, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), to cut interest rates further until year-end, according to the think tank Oxford Economics. “Inflation in Asia is approaching or has already fallen below the lower bound of...
Philippine economic growth would likely further slow in the next two years to remain below the government’s more ambitious annual targets amid a global deceleration fueled by trade and geopolitical tensions, according to the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF). A June 25...
After showing signs of recovery the previous day, the Philippine peso returned to the ₱56 level as investor confidence grew over the tentative Iran-Israel ceasefire, while the United States (US) dollar slipped to test its recent lows. Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP)...
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) still expects jumbo interest rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the rest of 2025 as monetary authorities are seen prolonging the easing cycle. “We expect the BSP to continue cutting rates at each of its remaining meetings this year in...
After hitting a nearly three-month low in the previous day, the peso rebounded against the United States (US) dollar, influenced by a tentative ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which pushed global crude oil prices to near two-week lows. Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP)...
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. warned that rising global oil prices and the peso’s depreciation streak could push inflation above five percent, a level last seen nearly two years ago. “We do scenario analysis today [Friday] in which we focus on particular risks....