Experts: BSP can keep rates at April meeting By Andrea E. San Juan
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HE Philippines’s central bank is unlikely to respond right away to recent oil price shocks, likely keeping interest rates unchanged at the upcoming April 23 policy meeting while it gauges how oil price spikes feed into transport, electricity, and food distribution, according to experts. In a message sent to the BusinessMirror, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow John Paolo Rivera said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) still has room
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STRIKES HIT WORLD’S LARGEST NATURAL GAS FIELD IN IRAN, AND TEHRAN RETALIATES WITH ATTACKS
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to keep rates unchanged in April, thanks to the latest inflation print which has stayed within the central bank’s target band. “February inflation at 2.4 percent remains within the 2-4 percent target and the BSP has already shifted to a more cautious, risk-management stance as its easing cycle nears the end,” Rivera told this newspaper. “The next MB policy meeting is on April 23 so a pause would be consistent with a wait-and- see approach while the BSP assesses oil, peso, and external risks,” he also pointed out. Ateneo De Manila University
(ADMU) Department of Economics Associate Professor Luis F. Dumlao explained to the BusinessMirror that “Monetary policy can tame demand-driven inflation, but ill-advised to tame supply shock-driven inflation.” “Since the present inflation is supply shock-driven, policy can only tame inflation at the risk of slowing growth or even causing recession,” added Dumlao. For his part, Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., told the BusinessMirror: “BSP will hold and be cautious” at the Monetary Board’s April 23 meeting.
Meanwhile, in its latest Emerging Markets Economics Update, London-based think tank Capital Economics said it explored how central banks should respond to an energy shock. As such, it grouped central banks into four broad categories. The think tank grouped the Philippines’s central bank with Indonesia’s central bank, saying these banks are unlikely to respond immediately, “but where a prolonged period of high energy prices would trigger tightening.” “In the Philippines, heavy reliance on imported energy could See “Rates,” A2
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CRISIS WEAKENS PESO TO NEW RECORD LOW www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Friday, March 20, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 159
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By Andrea E. San Juan
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PBBM WANTS POWER PLANTS SUPPLIED FOR 2-3 MOS RUN
HE Philippine peso slumped to a new all-time low as it breached the 60-to-the-dollar level on Thursday due to escalating tensions in the Middle East which fueled the strength of the dollar as investors pour their assets into the “safe haven” currency. Data from the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines (BAP) showed the peso closed at P60.10 per $1 on Thursday, 58 centavos weaker than its previous finish of P59.52 on Wednesday. Analysts said the peso weakened on Thursday as global crude oil prices went up after Iran launched retaliatory attacks on some energy facilities across Middle East, including Qatar. Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co. described the latest movement of the local currency as a “kneejerk reaction” to the retaliation by Iran. “If this escalates, we could see it staying above 60,” he added. Nearly three weeks into the Middle East conflict, analysts pointed out that some investors are becoming “risk-averse” as they become more prudent in handling their assets amid the uncertain global environment. Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow John Paolo Rivera told the BusinessMirror that the peso’s depreciation is “likely driven by a combination of strong dollar demand, elevated oil prices,
and global risk aversion.” Rivera noted that higher oil prices expand the Philippines’s import bill, raising demand for dollars, while geopolitical tensions push investors toward safe haven assets like the US dollar. “This puts sustained pressure on emerging market currencies, like the Philippine peso,” he also told this newspaper. For his part, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael L. Ricafort said there is “some hedging amid geopolitical uncertainties as a matter of prudence.” Meanwhile, Rivera said the strengthening of the greenback after the US Federal Reserve kept rates steady put pressure on the Philippine peso. “Fed holding rates steady can still support dollar strength, especially if markets interpret it as a signal that US rates will remain higher for longer,” he added. He pointed out that this widens the interest rate differential with the Philippines and encourages capital to “stay in or flow back” to dollar assets, contributing to peso weakness. See “Peso,” A2
By Samuel P. Medenilla
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PESO BREACHES 60 A money changer in Ermita, Manila, displays US dollar banknotes as the Philippine peso slid to a new all-time low of P60.10 against the US dollar on Thursday, weakening by 58 centavos from its previous close of P59.52 on Wednesday. The sharp depreciation reflects mounting pressure from a stronger dollar, elevated global oil prices, and persistent inflation concerns, raising the cost of imports and fueling worries over its impact on local businesses and consumers. NONIE REYES
Despite jobs decline, creative economy grows to ₧2.12T By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE country’s creative economy grew to P2.12 trillion in 2025, despite the slight dip in employment in the sector, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA reported on Thursday that the creative economy posted a 6.9-percent growth from P1.98 trillion in 2024. This is equivalent to 7.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product at current prices in 2025,
the PSA said. The sector consists of a wide range of industries involving audio and audiovisual media activities; digital interactive goods and service activities; advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities; symbols and images and other related activities; media publishing and printing activities; music, arts and entertainment activities; visual arts activities; traditional cultural expression activities; and art galleries, museums, ballrooms, conventions
and trade shows, and related activities. Among these creative industries, symbols and images, and other related activities accounted for the largest share at P670.15 billion or 31.6 percent of the total gross value added of the creative economy in 2025. This was trailed by digital interactive goods and service activities with 19.7-percent share and advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities with 15.9-percent share. Meanwhile, employment in cre-
ative industries dropped to 8.71 million in 2025 from 8.74 million in 2024, posting an annual decline of 0.4 percent. The share of employment in creative industries to the total employment in the country was recorded at 17.8 percent in 2025. Of the creative industries, traditional cultural expression activities posted the highest share to the total employment in creative industries at 33.0 percent in 2025. Symbols and images and other related activities contributed 27.1 percent, while advertising, re-
search and development, and other artistic service activities shared 23.7 percent. Furthermore, creative collective consumption rose by 2 percent to P16.49 billion in 2025 from P16.17 billion in 2024. Exports of creative goods amounted to P320.06 billion, while exports of creative services stood at P426.99 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, imports of creative goods and imports of creative services reached P711.48 billion and P138.00 billion, respectively, in 2025.
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S tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt global petroleum supply chains, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants the country to have sufficient raw materials to run its power plants for up to two to three months. In an interview with reporters in Bataan on Thursday, the chief executive said he wants to increase the country’s stockpile of the said raw materials to last beyond just a month in case the conflict in the Middle East will last for months. “We have already secured the Philippines’s stockpiles [of the said materials] abroad and we have given permission to bring them back so that we can use them to extend our stockpile from 30 days up to two to three months,” Marcos said, partly in Filipino. Currently, the President said the country has sufficient supply of the materials, but added that they are still in talks with other friendly countries to acquire more, including coal. He noted that while his administration is trying to move away from using coal-powered plants, it is considering the said facilities as possible power sources, amid the ongoing Middle East crisis. The armed conflict in the region started after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which subsequently restricted the passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway for the global oil supply chain. The US initially estimated the conflict would last only for four to five weeks. However, some analysts warned that the tension in the region can last longer. “We’ll open up again the importation...the buying of coal so that our power plants will not run out of power,” Marcos said. In 2024, the Department of Energy reported that the country has 9 coal-fired power plants. To help reduce the country’s See “Power plants,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 59.5620 n JAPAN 0.3729 n UK 79.0686 n HK 7.5992 n CHINA 8.6473 n SINGAPORE 46.4313 n AUSTRALIA 41.8840 n EU 68.3176 n KOREA 0.0395 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.8663 Source: BSP (March 19, 2026)