MANILA, Philippines — The central bank is allowing banks to lend more funds to the property sector, another step meant to give banks more firepower to lend, this time to one of the Philippines’ booming sectors, but seen unlikely to spur demand for loans. In a Viber message to reporters on Thursday, Benjamin Diokno, governor […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — Banks survived the first two weeks of broad lockdowns last March with larger deposits, reinforcing their lending strength, but one that was likely since reversed with stay-at-home consumers dipping into their savings. Total bank deposits stood at P13.89 trillion as of the first quarter, up 1.8% from P13.64 trillion recorded in previous […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The government’s strong current account position, together with other sound macroeconomic indicators, may speed up the country’s recovery from the impact of the pandemic, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). In a report, Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said the country posted a current account surplus of $92 million […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines —More retail electricity suppliers (RES) joined the Competitive Retail Electricity Market (CREM) in the second quarter as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) granted a total of 42 RES licenses and authorized 25 local RES during the period. The suppliers now compete for the supply of electricity of contestable customers in the CREM, where […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) yesterday warned banks and other financial institutions that money launderers and perpetrators of financial crimes are taking advantage of the shift in consumer behavior brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a report titled “COVID-19 Financial Crime Trend Analysis,” the AMLC said criminals are abusing digitalization, such […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is likely to keep benchmark interest rates steady in the near term amid reduced demand for loans despite all-time low rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to British banking giant HSBC. Noelan Arbis, economist at HSBC, said the Monetary Board is likely to keep its […]
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