Emerging market (EM) Asian currencies continue to bear the brunt of ongoing geopolitical rifts, with the peso suffering the deepest decline among the region’s energy-importing economies since conflicts in the Middle East flared up nearly four months ago. According to a report published last...
The World Bank Group (WBG) has lowered its 2026 growth forecast for the Philippines to 3.7 percent, warning that the ongoing war in the Middle East is weighing heavily on energy-importing economies and threatening to push global growth to its weakest pace since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic....
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would likely continue hiking interest rates this year despite the lower-than-expected inflation rate in May, even as the pace of monetary policy tightening may be more gradual as economic growth remains subdued, according to Singapore-based United Overseas Bank...
Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. warned that the Philippine peso could plunge to as low as ₱64.5 against the United States (US) dollar if the Middle East war re-escalates, with the decline worsened further by a global “super” El Niño and a hawkish US central bank. MUFG analysts wrote...
Higher debt repayments outweighed fresh borrowings in the first four months of 2026, pulling down the national government’s (NG) debt stock to ₱18.47 trillion, even as a weaker peso increased the peso value of foreign-currency obligations. According to the latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr)...
Relying solely on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) interest rate hikes will likely provide limited support for the Philippine peso, which remains on the verge of another historic low amid elevated oil prices, a stronger United States (US) dollar, and cautious market risk appetite, according...
Philippine economic growth is seen falling to a new post-pandemic low of three percent this year as the lingering impacts of last year’s multi-billion-peso flood-control corruption scandal and the prolonged war in the Middle East weigh on investor and business confidence, according to think tank...
Despite the weakening of Philippine peso, Malacañang remains confident that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is on top of the situation. BSP Governor Eli Remolona recently stated that the Philippine peso dipping to P63.50 per US dollar would be acceptable as long as the decline is measured....
The inflation-targeting Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to continue raising interest rates to contain surging inflation despite the risk of slower economic growth. In a May 22 report, Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. said the Philippines is facing one of the most severe...
The peso risks sinking to an all-time low of ₱65 against the United States (US) dollar over the next three years if the government maintains its passive stance toward escalating global tensions. Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., said during a Pandesal Forum on Wednesday,...
The World Bank warned that the Philippines’ broad-based economic slowdown in the first quarter of 2026 could spill over into weaker household incomes and higher food prices as the country grapples with an escalating energy price shock triggered by tensions in the Middle East. In its latest...
Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. revealed that the Philippine peso has emerged as the worst-performing currency in Asia since the flare-up of deepening military tensions between the United States (US) and Iran. According to data monitored by MUFG covering 11 Asian currencies, the peso has...
