While Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth showed relative strength in the second quarter, private-sector economists believe it is not strong enough to prevent the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from further reducing interest rates, as inflation is expected to remain soft and growth...
The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) or its stock of United States (US) dollars and other foreign currencies, dropped to $105.3 billion at end-July, from $106 billion in June, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The central bank attributed the slight...
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...
To finance road and flood control projects, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved a total of $4.89 billion worth foreign borrowings in the second quarter of 2025, higher by more than a quarter from $3.90 billion in the same period last year. According to the BSP, the approved...
Loans from big banks or universal and commercial banks (UK/Bs), excluding investments in the central bank’s reverse repurchase (RRP), grew by a faster 12.1 percent in June from May’s 11.3-percent expansion. According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released on...
Mobile payment providers Apple Pay and Google Pay will not need to register with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) if they plan to enter the Philippine market, as the central bank does not qualify them as operators of payment systems (OPS). BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan stated that the...
After performing among the worst of Asian currencies last week, the Philippine peso is still expected by Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. to gradually appreciate and return to the ₱56:$1 level next year. “All Asian currencies depreciated against the United States (US) dollar [last] week,...
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has called on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to intensify its regulatory efforts against online lending applications, which have been linked to the growing incidence of cybercrimes and the rise of online gambling in the country. In a recent statement,...
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...
