The Philippines’ current account deficit widened to $9.18 billion in the first half of 2025, a 13.6 percent increase from $8.08 billion in the same period a year earlier. According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the deficit was driven by imports outpacing exports...
Net inflows of brick-and-mortar foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Philippines only increased to $376 million, marking its lowest hike in six months since the $356 million in December last year. Net FDI inflows declined by 17.8 percent from $457 million in June last year, according to the...
Uncertainty over price movements could delay the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) next 25-basis-point (bps) policy rate cut to December, according to American banking giant Citi. “Barring a significant growth shock, the immediate uncertainty on inflation could push the [monetary policy...
Higher gold prices globally, coupled with the central bank’s investment income, helped the Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR)—its stock of United States (US) dollars and other foreign currencies—recover last month from its modest decline in July. Preliminary data from the...
Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) expects lower interest rates to lift Philippine economic growth in the near term, despite lingering global challenges that would likely expand the domestic economy below the government’s goal for the year. In its Quarterly Global Outlook report for the...
Philippine banks are shoring up their loan-loss buffers as the industry’s bad loan ratio climbed to an eight-month high of 3.4 percent, due to the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global uncertainties affecting borrowers’ ability to repay debts. According to the latest data from...
Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri has said that as part of the curbing the country 's online gambling problem, the government must also place tighter regulations on predatory Online Lending Applications (OLAs). Zubiri said this during the Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing on...
Despite last month’s spike in consumer prices, the steady decline in rice costs is seen to keep a lid on inflation, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expecting it to average below two percent this year. Inflation quickened to 1.5 percent in August from 0.9 percent in July—the slowest...
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...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has formally dismissed two supervisors found to have been involved in falsifying the attendance records of four employees, marking the latest development in an internal scandal that also led to the resignation of two Monetary Board (MB) members last year. In a...
Should banks fail to comply with the central bank’s order to implement a sophisticated fraud management system (FMS), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could go as far as suspending their licenses, on top of holding them liable for losses their clients incur from fraud. “We are the...
Consumer prices may have risen at a faster pace in August, the central bank projected, as recent typhoons and excessive rainfall likely stoked the cost of basic goods, especially food items. Last month’s inflation is expected to clock within the range of one percent to 1.8 percent, according to...
