Getting more Filipinos to trust banks is already a big challenge for the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, but its goal of getting cashless transactions to rise to at least 20 percent of total transactions by 2020 would be, simply put, something of interest to observe. The BSP is relying on the rise of smartphones, a tech-savvy young generation, […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The additional revenue to be generated by two House-approved bills that seek to increase tobacco and alcohol excise taxes may not be enough to bridge the P40-billion funding gap for the government’s universal health care (UHC) program, the Department of Finance (DOF) said. In an interview, Finance assistant secretary Antonio Lambino said […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The peso is expected to further lose ground next year, settling at 55 against the dollar by end-2019 due to a widening current account deficit, said London-based Capital Economics. The think tank said it expects the country’s current account deficit to widen to around 2.5 percent of gross domestic product next year. […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The country’s external debt went up by more than five percent as of end-September, exceeding the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s foreign exchange buffer as new borrowings exceeded loan repayments. BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the country’s outstanding external debt stood at $76.4 billion as of end-September, 5.6 percent higher than […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The country’s “Explore, Explore, Explore” program has generated 13 interested applications for the pre-determined areas for oil and gas exploration bared during last month’s launch. Eight parties have nominated new areas for oil and gas exploration activities. “We have 14 pre-determined areas (PDAs) under Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) and 13 have applied for the pre-determined areas,” […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — As expected, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decided yesterday to keep interest rates steady, pausing from a tightening episode that saw rates rise by 175 basis points in five straight rate-setting meetings since May this year to rein in inflation. Francisco Dakila, assistant governor for the monetary policy sub-sector at the BSP, said the latest inflation forecasts show […]
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