The Department of Agriculture (DA) secured a temporary toll fee waiver for trucks transporting agricultural goods, part of the strategic push to lower logistics expenses, stabilize retail food prices, and shield farmers’ earnings from volatile fuel costs. In a statement on Friday, April 17,...
The government has reached a fresh agreement with manufacturers and retailers to extend the nationwide price freeze on essential goods until May 10, providing a temporary shield for consumers against rising living costs. On Friday, April 17, Trade Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque announced the...
While the oil-induced inflation spike in the Philippines is raising concerns, think tank Capital Economics expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep key interest rates steady for the rest of the year. In an April 15 report, Capital Economics chief emerging markets (EMs) economist...
Filipinos are caught in a financial trap, increasingly forced to borrow money for food and basic needs despite their deep cultural dislike of debt, according to the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) report that highlighted growing strain on household finances. The 2025 Consumer Finance and...
The collapse of peace talks between the United States (US) and Iran over the weekend could hurt semiconductor manufacturers in Asia, including the Philippines, according to British banking giant Barclays. “A prolonged energy disruption could lead to a tail-risk scenario that hits semiconductor...
The jump in the March inflation rate has set the stage for a potential 50-basis-point (bp) rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) during the second quarter, according to global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. In an April 7 report obtained by Manila Bulletin, Goldman Sachs...
The peso’s purchasing power hit another record low in March as the price shock wrought by the war in the Middle East further eroded Filipinos’ ability to spend the local currency. The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), released on Tuesday, April 7, showed that the...
Headline inflation, or annual price increases, soared to a 20-month high of 4.1 percent in March, as the war in the Middle East fueled skyrocketing oil prices. National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) chief Claire Dennis S. Mapa told a press briefing on Tuesday, April 7, that...
While global oil shocks have yet to fully affect the Philippine economy since the flare-up of United States (US)-Iran military hostilities a month ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) minimum inflation assumption is that March accelerated at the fastest pace in at least 19 months. Seen as...
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secured a commitment from the country’s largest manufacturers and retailers to freeze prices on essential goods through mid-April to insulate households from the inflationary fallout of escalating tensions in the Middle East. In a statement late...
The country’s full-year inflation rate in 2025 settled at a nine-year low, even as inflation edged up to 1.8 percent in December from 1.5 percent a month earlier, driven mainly by higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. National...
The country’s inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent in November, easing from 1.7 percent in October and 2.5 percent in the same month last year, largely due to lower food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday, Dec. 5. Headline inflation averaged 1.6 percent during...
