British banking giant HSBC expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points (bps) following its recent hikes as inflation is projected to significantly overshoot the target ceiling this year, while economic growth remains dampened. “Higher oil...
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more deeply embedded in financial operations, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has urged banks and nonbanks to establish tailored governance frameworks to protect the financial system from data privacy breaches, algorithmic bias, and operational risks....
Property costs accelerated in the first quarter of 2026, signaling a broader recovery in the residential market after successive declines, although tighter lending standards continued to dampen borrowers’ appetite for property purchases. Property inflation quickened in the first quarter,...
Despite expecting the country’s current account deficit to widen from the 2025 level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has improved its outlook, forecasting a narrower deficit for 2026 and 2027 than in its first-quarter projections. Based on the updated June 2026 forecast released on Friday...
Think tank Capital Economics expects the Philippine economy to grow below the government’s downgraded targets over the next three years, warning that the country’s recovery would likely remain sluggish as weak confidence, tight fiscal policy, and the lingering impact of recent shocks weigh on...
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) are prohibited from entering into partnerships that would allow unlicensed third-party players to conduct electronic money (e-money) operations. “BSFIs shall not enter into any arrangement that results in another person...
Philippine corporate executives turned less pessimistic about the economic outlook last month, betting that a revival in consumer spending will shore up corporate earnings even as households grew increasingly anxious over job security and dwindling finances. According to the Bangko Sentral ng...
To prevent your brain from spiraling into something else in the aftermath of the unfortunate shooting incident in a public school in Tacloban, let me be clear that the MLR here does not refer to a muzzle-loading rifle. Nope, Virginia, it does not refer to the Main Line of Resistance, either....
The Philippines is grappling with the fastest inflation rate among Southeast Asia’s major economies, as the country’s acute exposure to crude volatility from the United States-Iran conflict offsets the recent cooling in consumer price growth. While aggregate inflation across the ASEAN-6 nations...
With the Philippine peso dropping nearly five percent against the United States (US) dollar since January, Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) forecasts that the local currency could tumble to a fresh record low of ₱63 per greenback over the next quarter. UOB said in its latest...
Inflation carries a high likelihood of becoming de-anchored once fresh price shocks emerge, think tank Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned, citing in particular the looming risk of a “super” El Niño driving up food costs. “With inflation already well above target, new price shocks are...
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) and Security Bank Corp. posted steeper unrealized losses and faced greater pressure on their core capital buffers in the first quarter of the year, driven by their outsized exposure to volatile fixed-income holdings, according to Moody’s Ratings. The...
