The Philippines scored below the regional average in the World Bank’s latest Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+), underscoring persistent gaps in health, education, and employment outcomes despite outperforming the average for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). In an April 2026 human capital...
Among Asian currencies, the Philippine peso sustained the second-largest losses against the United States (US) dollar since the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, with analysts blaming the country’s reliance on foreign capital and persistent current account deficit. While regional markets grappled...
Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) will permanently eliminate transaction fees for digital fund transfers via InstaPay and PESONet starting July 1, following the central bank 's lifting of its cap on electronic payment pricing. The oldest lender in the Philippines is moving to...
The Philippines, still under a state of national energy emergency, has secured a record $1.02-billion World Bank Group (WBG) financing package to help lower electricity costs, accelerate renewable energy (RE) adoption, and strengthen water services nationwide. In a press release dated June 25 and...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an up to $30-million equity investment in a regional infrastructure fund that will bankroll projects, including those in the Philippines, to support energy transition and digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia. Documents showed that the Manila-based...
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is preparing a return to the international debt markets with a proposed sale of United States (US) dollar-denominated fixed-rate notes, capitalizing on an operational turnaround that recently culminated in an invitation to join the Oneworld global airline alliance. The...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has backed the Philippine government’s updated roadmap to overhaul how public funds are planned, spent, and monitored, saying stronger public financial management (PFM) systems are key to improving public services, strengthening resilience, as well as guarding...
The World Bank has urged the Philippines to prioritize the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act and expand waste-management infrastructure before imposing stricter restrictions on single-use plastics, saying a carefully sequenced approach offers the best chance of...
Lucio Co-led Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) named veteran financial executive John Cary L. Ong as its president and chief executive officer-designate, weeks after his departure from Security Bank Corp. Ong will formally assume the top executive roles following a minimum three-month...
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 Marcos administration is seeking up to ₱91 billion ($1.5 billion) in fast-disbursing financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to bolster its response to an ongoing energy crisis, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go told reporters...
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...
