Consumer prices rose faster for a fifth straight month to a 26-month high in February as food prices continued to surge, the Philippine Statistics Agency reported on Friday. Preliminary data from the PSA showed headline inflation at 4.7% last month, picking up from 4.2% in January 2021 and 2.6% in February 2020. The February inflation result marked the fastest pace ...
The Philippine banking industry will likely see a rise in soured loans this year as many consumers struggle to settle their debts amid the crisis, Fitch Ratings said. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio is expected to spike to 4.5-5% by end-2021 as more bad loans pile up in the first half, the debt watcher said in a note released on ...
THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) has expanded further the type of loans counted as compliance with the mandatory credit allocation for agriculture and agrarian reform activities. “This is an interim measure while awaiting the amendment of Republic Act (RA) 10000 (Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009) itself,” Monetary Board member V. Bruce J. Tolentino said in a Twitter message. ...
SECURITY BANK Corp. will continue to face asset quality pressures this year mainly due to its “troubled retail portfolio,” S&P Global Ratings said on Friday. “The bank has aggressively expanded into retail banking during the past five to six years, with its consumer banking portfolio reaching 28% of the overall loan book at its peak in December 2019, compared with ...
PHILIPPINE Savings Bank booked a lower net income in 2020 as it hiked its loan loss provisions amid the pandemic. The bank’s net profit stood at P1.108 billion last year, it said in a filing with the local bourse on Friday. This was 63% lower than the P3.03 billion it booked in 2019, based on its annual report for that ...
THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) made a full award of the one-month bills it offered on Friday even as rates climbed following data showing a quicker inflation print for February. The central bank raised P80 billion as planned from its offering of 28-day bills that were met with P106.674 billion in tenders, higher than the P102.12 billion in bids ...
THE PESO climbed against the greenback on Friday following the end of the government’s retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering the day prior. The local unit closed at P48.56 per dollar on Friday, gaining six centavos from its Thursday finish of P48.62. It also appreciated by three centavos from its P48.59-per-dollar close on Feb. 26. The peso opened Friday’s session at ...
THE health department reported on Friday 3,093 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily case rate in almost five months, and more cases of the new variants. The March 5 tally was the highest since the 3,139 reported in October 16, 2020. This brings the country’s total coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases to 587,704, including 40,074 active cases. Over 89% of ...
THE Philippines is expected to receive the initial batch of coronavirus vaccines developed by Amerian firm Moderna Inc. by June or earliest in late-May, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Friday. “We’re hoping to have the first delivery by either end of May or early part of June,” he said in a televised news briefing. ...
THE country’s two biggest air service providers, Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Air, Inc. (Cebu Pacific), have been delivering the country’s first batch of coronavirus vaccines to areas outside the capital region. In a statement on Friday, PAL said a total of 145,520 doses of CoronaVac vaccine donated by the Chinese government to Manila were delivered to various parts of ...