While Asian currencies have been on a modest decline since Middle East tensions flared up, Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. said the Philippine peso was the biggest loser among regional currencies, given the domestic economy’s high exposure to imported oil. Separately, think tank Capital...
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), the country’s second-largest private lender, doubled its daily transaction limit for InstaPay transfers to ₱100,000, effective April 22, as the industry races to capture a larger share of the country’s burgeoning digital payments market. In a...
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda announced on Wednesday, April 22, his intention to seek a full five-year term as head of the Manila-based lender, positioning himself to steer the institution through a period of heightened geopolitical volatility and climate-driven economic...
The Caloocan City government opened on Tuesday, April 21, a “Human Milk Bank” at the Caloocan City Medical Center (CCMC) to support premature and medically fragile infants. According to the city’s Public Information Office, the facility aims to provide free and safe breast milk to babies in...
Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is teaming up with The Walt Disney Co. to launch a series of themed financial products and travel perks, the first time a Philippine lender has integrated multiple Disney business segments into its consumer offerings. The BPI-Disney collaboration,...
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is bracing for the fallout from escalating Middle East tensions, weighing the impact of the Iran conflict on regional remittances and global supply chains even as the lender reported record first-quarter earnings. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, BPI chairman,...
President Marcos’ chief economic manager is pressing global financial institutions for enhanced budgetary support and emergency financing, warning that escalating Middle East tensions and climate-driven crises are severely narrowing the fiscal maneuvering room for emerging economies. Speaking at...
Six multilateral development banks (MDBs) have launched a coordinated push to develop critical mineral value chains, seeking to move resource-rich economies beyond raw material exports and into higher-value manufacturing as part of efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience. In an April 17 joint...
Private sector economists are split over whether the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will raise interest rates this week, as the need to anchor inflation expectations and defend the peso battles concerns over the fragile economic recovery. Of 10 economists surveyed, five expect a 25-basis-point...
Developing economies including the Philippines are pressing the World Bank Group (WBG) to help reduce borrowing costs as the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict drives up oil prices, disrupts supply chains, and threatens growth and food security. In an April 16 statement delivered before...
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has signed agreements with two government agencies aimed at strengthening socio-economic initiatives including enhancing agricultural productivity and food production in the Mindanao region, a top official said. DBP President and Chief Executive...
Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are stepping up coordination to cushion economies from the spillover effects of the Middle East conflict, citing rising energy costs, supply chain disruptions, and tighter financial conditions as immediate risks to growth and stability. In an April 17 joint...
