The inflation-targeting Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to raise the policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5 percent to confront war-driven price hikes head-on, according to investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. “Given its price stability mandate, we believe the BSP will hike...
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...
To shield the Philippine labor market from the fallout of the Middle East conflict, the Marcos Jr. administration is ramping up job protection measures—a move that could further improve the country’s employment rate following February’s gains. Department of Economy, Planning, and Development...
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...
Despite recent pronouncements by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that one more policy rate cut before year-end would maintain the “Goldilocks” level, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) still forecasts two more reductions at each of the two remaining Monetary Board (MB) interest rate...
Expectations of further cuts in key borrowing costs as early as this month have grown stronger, driven by last month’s nearly six-year low inflation and lingering economic threats from United States (US) tariffs. Following the below one-percent headline print in July, private-sector economists...
Rice prices dropped at their fastest pace since 1995, bringing consumer price increases to below one percent in July, partly supported by the current administration’s ₱20-per-kilo rice program. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa...
Philippine goods exports climbed 13.2 percent year-on-year to a record $41.24 billion in the first six months of 2025 as exporters front-loaded shipments ahead of the 19-percent tariff to be imposed by the United States (US), the country’s top export market. National Statistician Claire Dennis S....
Consumer price increases slowed further to 1.3 percent in May from 1.4 percent in April, marking the slowest pace in nearly six years, with the poorest households experiencing no increase in overall prices. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s headline inflation...
With about 50 million Filipinos with jobs in 2024, the country recorded its highest employment rate in 20 years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Of the working population, 96.2 percent landed a job in 2024, a share higher than 2023’s 95.6 percent. This is the highest jobs...
Expensive tomatoes and pork pushed the rate of increase in prices of basic goods and services to 2.9 percent in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Last month's headline inflation matched the same rate as December 2024 but inched up from 2.8 percent in...
