Net inflows of brick-and-mortar foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines shrank by over a third to $1.03 billion in the first two months of 2026 from the $1.58 billion recorded during the same period in 2025. The contraction, which came even before uncertainties tied to the Middle East...
Philippine banks must strengthen safeguards against money laundering and terrorism financing across all payment activities, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered, warning that banks remain accountable for violations even when using third-party payment aggregators. Under Memorandum No....
While the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is seen raising key borrowing costs by up to 100 basis points (bps) more should inflation worsen, MUFG Bank Ltd. warned that such hawkish adjustments may not be enough to prop up the underperforming peso. According to the Japanese financial giant, the...
Following weaker-than-expected Philippine economic expansion in the first quarter of 2026, Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) slashed its full-year growth forecast to 3.2 percent from a more optimistic five percent previously. Excluding the contraction during the peak of Covid-19...
The Philippine central bank faces an intensifying divide among private-sector economists over the trajectory of borrowing costs, with a lone dissenting voice branding recent monetary tightening as “misguided” following the sharp slowdown in economic output. While a majority of analysts maintain...
Senator Joel Villanueva has filed a bill seeking to guarantee financial relief for borrowers, depositors, and digital payment users during national emergencies by giving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) authority to compel banks and other financial institutions to comply with emergency...
Sharp declines in foreign exchange (forex) holdings and foreign investments drove the Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR)—the country’s stock of foreign currencies and other reserve assets—to their lowest level in 15 months in April. GIR stood at $104.1 billion at end-April, the...
The Philippine banking system remains largely insulated from the escalating geopolitical volatility in the Middle East, bolstered by record asset levels and capital buffers that have outpaced the nation’s broader economic growth, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its latest...
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...
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...
