I 've attended countless environmental activities over the years, from coastal cleanups to tree-planting drives. But a recent initiative in Pasay City reminded me that sustainability can also be deeply personal. When Savoy Hotel Manila invited me to join its Plant a Sampaguita advocacy, I...
With the Philippine peso dropping nearly five percent against the United States (US) dollar since January, Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) forecasts that the local currency could tumble to a fresh record low of ₱63 per greenback over the next quarter. UOB said in its latest...
Inflation carries a high likelihood of becoming de-anchored once fresh price shocks emerge, think tank Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned, citing in particular the looming risk of a “super” El Niño driving up food costs. “With inflation already well above target, new price shocks are...
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) and Security Bank Corp. posted steeper unrealized losses and faced greater pressure on their core capital buffers in the first quarter of the year, driven by their outsized exposure to volatile fixed-income holdings, according to Moody’s Ratings. The...
The Philippines’ more-than-three-decade-old devolution program remains incomplete, with local government units (LGUs) and national agencies continuing to share responsibilities for many basic services despite the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC), according to state-run policy think tank...
Total resources of the Philippine financial system contracted slightly in April as the central bank 's rate-hiking cycle and regional geopolitical frictions prompted a tactical pause among traditional lenders, despite continued expansion in the digital banking sector. According to preliminary...
Banks will be allowed to temporarily exclude valuation losses on government securities (GS) from their capital calculations after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved a regulatory relief measure in a bid to mitigate the financial impact of the ongoing Middle East conflict. In a memorandum...
Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG is expecting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to further raise key borrowing costs twice more to reach 5.25 percent, standing firmly by its assumption that the hiking cycle is not yet over and that the looming El Niño further threatens price spikes. Deutsche...
Digital payment transactions coursed through PESONet and InstaPay surged to ₱13.18 trillion in the first five months of the year, with transaction volumes nearly tripling as Filipinos increasingly rely on digital channels for their daily needs. According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to maintain its hawkish monetary policy stance, according to international lenders, though economists remain divided on how many additional interest-rate increases will be needed to combat persistent supply-side inflation. Japanese financial...
A surplus in May helped narrow the overall balance of payments (BOP) deficit for the Philippines to $7.28 billion for the first five months of 2026 from $7.41 billion in the previous month. While the cumulative gap remains significant, the May performance provided a slight reprieve from the...
Borrowers will now have more time to settle salary-based consumption loans after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) increased the maximum repayment term to seven years from three years previously. In a statement on June 19, the BSP announced that it has updated regulations for salary-based...
