With rice prices still seen to have dropped further recently, the central bank has forecast that increases in consumer prices likely slowed even more in July, following the five-and-a-half-year lows of 1.4 percent in June and 1.3 percent in May. As such, private-sector economists said that the...
Lower interest rates would spur a faster Philippine economic expansion next year, according to the Washington-based multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF). Referring to its latest forecasts for the Philippines contained in the recently published July 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO)...
Banks are set to move away from serving only clients of their affiliated insurers, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is rolling out amended bancassurance guidelines that will allow third-party insurers to sell their products to banks’ customers. “A draft circular amending the...
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. indicated that the central bank is considering another 25-basis-point (bps) reduction in its key interest rate as early as August. “A further reduction in the key interest rate is 'on the table’,” Remolona told reporters on...
Thrift, rural, or cooperative banks under the Tier 3 category—at least 75 percent of clients, funds, or transactions are handled digitally—may be ordered by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to convert into digital banks (DBs), as the central bank also moves to raise the minimum capital...
Central banks in Southeast Asia, where economies like the Philippines export a wide array of goods to the United States (US), are expected to cut interest rates some more as tariffs take effect next month, according to the think tank Capital Economics. In a July 23 report, Capital Economics senior...
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is urging developing economies to reduce their dependence on the export of key commodities, citing the potential of those with a more diversified economic mix like the Philippines to nurture sustainable growth. Based on its 2025 State...
S&P Global reported that credit growth across emerging markets (EMs) in Asia has generally softened in the first six months of the year, except in the Philippines and Vietnam, where lending has notably picked up pace. According to debt watcher S&P Global, loans from major banks, including universal...
As part of a shared mission to make financial education accessible to more Filipinos, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and BDO Foundation launched six new financial education e-learning modules. These modules complete the target of both organizations to produce a total of nine that are...
Citing still favorable inflation data, President Marcos’ chief economic manager said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could proceed with delivering two quarter-point cuts in the key interest rate by year-end even if the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) decides to pause its easing...
Digital payment transactions via PESONet and InstaPay increased by 51.5 percent to ₱2 trillion in June this year, from ₱1.32 trillion in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported. This represents a ₱680-billion increase from June 2024, according to the BSP data....
Shari’ah-compliant bond issuances are being pushed by top stakeholders of the financial market as more offerings of such debt instruments could bolster the country’ diversified financial market, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) “Sukuk issuances will spur the further growth...
