Samarkand, UZBEKISTAN — Amid comparisons by some local firms claiming that the ongoing oil crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East is hurting their business operations more severely than the Covid-19 pandemic, economists from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the broader...
British banking giant HSBC is now leaning toward back-to-back jumbo interest rate hikes that could lift policy rates to six percent, as signs of de-escalation in Middle East tensions remain muted—potentially forcing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to add another layer to its...
An off-cycle policy meeting by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could signal to investors that the central bank is falling behind the inflation curve, potentially triggering further market volatility, according to a former senior policymaker. Diwa Guinigundo, a former BSP deputy governor who...
Vice President Sara Duterte questioned why President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. won the 2022 elections, accusing him of “lying” to Filipinos about his capabilities and plans for the country amid what she described as worsening economic conditions under the current administration. Speaking before...
Samarkand, UZBEKISTAN — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said central banks should be cautious about raising interest rates too quickly in response to supply shock-driven inflation, even as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is now widely expected to tighten monetary policy further after April...
Local monetary authorities face the growing challenge to stabilize surging consumer prices as the initial pass-through of global oil inflation threatens to push the headline rate into double digits by the fourth quarter of the year. The mounting risk that inflation expectations could become...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is facing mounting pressure to deliver a more aggressive interest rate hike or a rare off-cycle move after inflation surged to a three-year high in April. British banking giant Barclays is now pricing in three consecutive 25-basis-point increases, which would...
Headline inflation or annual price increases soared to a 37-month high of 7.2 percent in April, mainly as domestic fuel and food prices skyrocketed due to the global oil price and supply shocks caused by the prolonged war in the Middle East. The Philippine Statistics Authority ’s (PSA) latest...
Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Philippines to resume public infrastructure spending under stricter governance standards to revive investor confidence, warning that the absence of accountable fiscal activity is stifling private investment and domestic growth. In a...
Signs of stagflation are surfacing in the Philippine economy as it enters the second quarter of 2026, with private sector economists warning of a precarious mix of stalled growth and surging consumer prices. The country’s economic output likely posted only a tepid recovery from the previous...
Businesses have turned more pessimistic about the global economic outlook amid the ongoing United States (US)/Israel war with Iran, according to think tank Oxford Economics. In an April 30 report, Oxford Economics head of macro scenarios Jamie Thompson said the conflict in the Middle East is...
Factory-gate prices rose at their fastest pace in three years in March, as oil-linked industries drove a sharp acceleration in manufacturing costs at the onset of the war in the Middle East. The latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data on Thursday, April 30, showed that the producer price...
