American banking giant Citi said a sustained surge in energy prices could trigger a spike in the overall inflation rate to around three percentage points (ppt) above the government’s four-percent ceiling. Citi wrote in an April 8 commentary that this could lead to muted consumer demand and...
The jump in the March inflation rate has set the stage for a potential 50-basis-point (bp) rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) during the second quarter, according to global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. In an April 7 report obtained by Manila Bulletin, Goldman Sachs...
Vice President Sara Duterte cautioned Filipino families to prepare for more difficult economic conditions in the coming months, citing rising fuel costs and increasing prices of basic goods, while urging households not to compromise on education spending. In her speech at the Rambakan Festival in...
With March inflation exceeding the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ’ (BSP) forecast, largely due to spillover from global oil price and supply shocks, the central bank warned that a prolonged crisis could seep into the broader consumer basket. This could dampen expectations of a near-term return to...
Faster inflation last March means there 's now even more reason for the House of Representatives to immediately pass the measure seeking an increase in Personnel Economic Relief Allowance, or PERA. Deputy Minority Leader ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio on Tuesday, April 7...
The peso’s purchasing power hit another record low in March as the price shock wrought by the war in the Middle East further eroded Filipinos’ ability to spend the local currency. The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), released on Tuesday, April 7, showed that the...
Headline inflation, or annual price increases, soared to a 20-month high of 4.1 percent in March, as the war in the Middle East fueled skyrocketing oil prices. National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) chief Claire Dennis S. Mapa told a press briefing on Tuesday, April 7, that...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has likely exhausted its window for monetary easing as resurgent price pressures threaten to breach the upper limit of its target range, according to the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). While the Philippine economy shows signs of stabilizing...
The Philippines is more vulnerable to “stagflationary” shock than any of its Southeast Asian neighbors as surging energy costs and cooling domestic demand squeeze the country’s economy, according to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) In a research note published last week, OCBC economists...
The Philippines is facing an inflationary shock that could spill over to slower economic growth, potential job losses, and more capital market outflows amid a prolonged Middle East conflict, according to the World Bank. The global oil price and supply shock wrought by the war in Iran would “raise...
If the war in the Middle East prolongs and global oil prices continue to skyrocket, the Philippine peso could breach the ₱61:$1 level in the second quarter of 2026 and even hit as low as ₱62 to ₱64 against the United States (US) dollar. “Our base case forecasts for the US dollar-Philippine...
Renewed Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are seen aggravating oil price- and supply-driven inflation pressures in the Philippines stemming from the ongoing war in the Middle East. “While the direct effect of renewed strikes on shipping in the Red Sea on aggregate world trade is likely to be limited,...
