The Asian Development Bank (ADB) stepped up support for private-sector-led development in its host country, the Philippines, last year, backing projects ranging from Maynilad Water Services Inc.’s landmark initial public offering (IPO) to digital lending through GCash as part of a broader push to...
The Philippines is seeking a $100-million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to expand solar-powered irrigation systems nationwide, providing small farmers with year-round access to water while improving farm productivity and resilience to drought. The latest ADB documents showed that the...
The Philippines has made significant progress in expanding universal health care (UHC), but inadequate government financing, high out-of-pocket costs, and severe shortages of health facilities and workers continue to constrain access to quality medical services, according to the Asian Development...
Further increasing the key borrowing cost to five percent is needed to curb still-elevated price pressures that are hurting consumers’ pockets, Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG said. Deutsche Bank Research joined the hawkish consensus, pricing in a quarter-point hike at the monetary...
Weak and fragmented data systems are threatening to hold back the Philippines’ artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions, prompting the World Bank to call for greater investment in the infrastructure and governance needed to unlock the technology’s economic potential. In its policy note “From...
Monetary authorities are widely expected to deliver a third consecutive 25-basis-point interest rate increase on Thursday, Aug. 27, as persistent supply disruptions, recent wage hikes, and a weakening currency keep inflation risks tilted to the upside. A majority of private-sector economists...
Philippine stock market investors will be mainly looking forward to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy meeting on Thursday, Aug. 27, while continuing to monitor the conflict in the Middle East, which has recently been causing oil prices to rise and the peso to weaken. “With no end in...
Consumer finance platform Billease has secured a ₱1-billion credit facility from Philippine National Bank (PNB), adding another major local bank to its funding base as it scales up its lending business. Billease’s first with PNB, the facility uses the Personal Property Security Registry (PPSR),...
MASON, Ohio (AP) — Iga Swiatek overcame a short turnaround after winning in Toronto on Thursday to beat Colombian Emiliana Arango, 6-3, 6-0, on center court at the Cincinnati Open on Sunday, Aug. 16. It was the seventh consecutive win for Swiatek, who won the title in Cincinnati last year. “It...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) retains room for an additional 50 basis points (bps) of rate hikes at its remaining policy meetings, potentially closing the year with a benchmark rate of 5.25 percent, according to Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. MUFG Global Markets Research wrote in...
If you are looking for your first vehicle, or perhaps a vehicle to use for your business, you might want to consider visiting your bank. Banks, like CBS, are often overlooked as an option when it comes to car purchases. But at each bank, there are great deals to be had. All you need to do is ask....
For a long time, the prevailing narrative surrounding Islamic banking in the Philippines was trapped in a narrow frame. Most consumers assumed it was a niche service exclusive to Muslim communities or strictly intended for regional development in Mindanao. Amenah “Mina” Pangandaman,...
