Services

NEWS FLASH

UPCOMING WEBINAR - CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA: ECONOMIC UPSWINGS AND POL...

Learn More

COUNTRY INSIGHTS

Coming soon: monetary easing
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 12 Mar 2019

In a one-on-one interview with the country’s best-known business journalist on television, the new BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno noted that falling local inflation plus the more dovish stance of developed economies’ central banks provide room for monetary easing, especially following last year’s 1...

Inflation now within target
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 05 Mar 2019

As we had expected, inflation fell from 4.4% in January to 3.8% in February, within the BSP’s 2-4% target. The month-on-month inflation rate was steady at 0.2, mainly reflecting the impact of higher oil fuel prices, including the contribution of higher excise taxes on oil. Food prices meanwhile c...

Budget Secretary is new BSP Chief
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 04 Mar 2019

In a surprise move, President Duterte last night decided that his budget Secretary, Benjamin Diokno, would be the best man to head the BSP. The Secretary is well regarded as an academic and technocrat whose field of expertise is public finance. Although untested in the area of banking and financi...

The passing of BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 24 Feb 2019

Many had surmised that his job, particularly stressful last year with inflation on the uptrend, was probably making BSP Governor Espenilla's tongue cancer worse. His intermittent medical leaves signaled a daunting disease. But even though people thought it was only a matter of time before he resi...

The days of swine and roses
PHILIPPINES · Report · 14 Feb 2019

Things are far from coming up roses for the Philippines in 2019, the Year of the Pig.A more somber mood greeted the start of the year as talks of slower global growth, persistence of trade war, no-deal Brexit, and US government shutdown made headlines.Locally, notwithstanding tamer inflation and ...

Inflation falls to 4.4%
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 05 Feb 2019

As expected, headline inflation eased further to 4.4 percent in January from 5.1 percent in December, with core inflation slowing down to 4.4 percent from 4.7 percent over the same period. The headline rate reflects a month on month inflation of 0.2% traced to increased fish prices. In contrast, ...

GDP growth sustained above 6%
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 24 Jan 2019

Government announced today that 4Q18 GDP grew 6.1%, a little below the median 6.3% analysts’ forecast. The headline rate reflects slower domestic demand growth alongside a smaller drag from net exports. The two are related: the former was pulled down by lower investments in durable equipment, mai...

Hike, cut or hold?
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 08 Jan 2019

The inflation outlook has become much more benign following price declines over the last two months. We now expect the headline rate to fall back within target (2-4%) this quarter, averaging 2.9% for the full year. The significant adjustment in our inflation forecast since December (3.9%) also co...

December inflation drops
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 04 Jan 2019 · 1 response

The headline inflation rate fell sharply to 5.1 percent from 6.0 percent in November, with the price level falling for the second straight month. Similarly, core inflation eased to 4.7 percent in December from 5.1 percent in the previous month, indicating diminishing second round impacts.The lowe...

No budget for 2019… yet
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 04 Jan 2019

2018 ended with congress failing to pass the executive’s proposed 2019 national budget, the result of an apparent spat between the two co-equal branches of government. The disagreement started back in mid-2018 on the technical issue of the executive’s proposed “cash” vs. previous years’ “obligati...

Year end note
PHILIPPINES · Report · 21 Dec 2018

In this report, we leave readers with some charts of what we think is the more enduring story moving forward. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Inflation slows down in November
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 05 Dec 2018

Headline inflation eased to 6.0 percent year-on-year in November from 6.7 percent in October, falling near the lower end of the BSP’s forecast range of 5.8-6.6 percent for the month. This is due largely to slower price increases in selected food items namely rice, meat, fish, fruits, and vegetabl...

Good, not great
PHILIPPINES · Forecast · 23 Nov 2018

Local moods have soured over the past several months on strong external headwinds, i.e., the triple whammy of US monetary tightening, surging oil prices and an escalating US-China trade war, and a collection of weaker economic data, including lower GDP growth and higher inflation. Economic perfo...

Policy rates hiked anew
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 15 Nov 2018

Citing the need to be proactive in managing the many external and domestic risks, the Monetary Board today raised its policy rates by 25bp, bringing the overnight RRP rate to 4.75%, a cumulative 175bp increase year to date. Even as it continued to tighten policy, it presented inflation forecasts ...

GDP growth slides anew
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 08 Nov 2018

After the disappointment in the previous quarter, today’s news that 3Q18 GDP slowed to 6.1%, a shade below the median analysts’ forecast, was less of a surprise. The pattern of growth was similar to the earlier quarters, i.e., robust domestic demand that was offset by higher net imports. However,...

Copyright 2024 GlobalSource Partners. All rights reserved.