Latest numbers from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) serve as a reality check for the Marcos administration, which has been promising a new economic era. The economy grew by just 2.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, a cold shower for a country recently touted as a regional leader....
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...
The peso is at risk of crumbling to a record low of ₱63 against the United States (US) dollar if a protracted Middle East conflict drives oil prices higher and forces Washington to adopt a more hawkish policy stance. Estimates by the Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. show that in a risk...
Malacañang said the Philippine peso breaching another record low value against US dollar was due to "unusually strong" dollar and the ongoing Middle East crisis. In a Palace briefing on Thursday, April 30, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary said that the weakening of the peso...
Real investment activity in the Philippines risks shrinking during periods of global disruption, especially in scenarios where the United States (US) dollar swings wildly and uncertainty surrounding the American economy intensifies. “Investment declines most sharply when dollar strength and...
Until a clearer signal emerges from the temporary military truce between the United States (US) and Iran, the Philippine peso stands to sustain additional bruises from the geopolitical tensions that have already battered it, according to Singapore-based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. (OCBC)....
The peso tumbled to a fresh record low on Tuesday, April 28, breaching the 61-level as a resurgent United States (US) dollar and the broad exodus from emerging-market assets overwhelmed the central bank’s recent efforts to shore up the currency through tighter monetary policy. The peso plunged to...
The peso pierced the ₱61:$1 level on Tuesday, April 28, as the oil-vulnerable local currency continued to weaken amid uncertainties wrought by the prolonged war in the Middle East. As of 1:52 p.m., the peso hit an intraday low of ₱61.08 against the United States (US) dollar after opening...
While Asian currencies have been on a modest decline since Middle East tensions flared up, Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. said the Philippine peso was the biggest loser among regional currencies, given the domestic economy’s high exposure to imported oil. Separately, think tank Capital...
Philippine economic growth in 2026 would have hit the government’s downgraded target range had the war in the Middle East been short-lived, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). However, the Bangkok-headquartered UNESCAP said a...
High energy prices and persistent geopolitical instability are poised to deepen the Philippines’ external imbalances, heightening depreciation risks for an already fragile peso, according to analysts at Dutch financial giant ING ING wrote in its latest report, published last Friday night, that it...
Not only the Philippines’ vulnerability to global oil price and supply shocks amid the Middle East war but also domestic political instability has pulled the peso down to record-low levels, according to Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd. “The Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah, and Philippine peso have...
