Treasury bill yields rose across all tenors at Monday’s auction as investors priced in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ recent rate hike and the possibility of further monetary tightening.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Thursday delivered a preemptive 25-basis-point rate hike and left the door open to further tightening as stubborn inflationary pressures threaten to keep prices above the central bank’s target range.
Moody’s Ratings affirmed the Philippines’ Baa2 sovereign credit rating on Monday, citing expectations that the government’s fiscal position will stabilize over the next two years despite a sharp slowdown in economic growth.
Treasury bill yields were mostly higher at Monday’s auction as investors appeared to price in the possibility of tighter monetary policy ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ interest rate-setting meeting later this week.
The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) fell to USD103.3 billion at the end of July from USD104.7 billion a month earlier, while the country posted a USD1.5-billion balance of payments (BOP) deficit, reflecting continued pressure from external transactions.
Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN) said its proposed Terra Solar 2 project remains in the early stages of evaluation, tempering earlier reports of a potential expansion of its large-scale renewable energy portfolio.
Manulife Philippines has appointed Erica Jurilla Santos as chief operations officer, effective Sept. 15, as the insurer moves to strengthen operational capabilities and accelerate business transformation.
MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust of Megaworld Corp., has secured Securities and Exchange Commission approval for its P27-billion Wave 5 property-for-share swap, clearing the way for its largest asset acquisition and pushing assets under management to about P122 billion.
The Department of Finance (DOF) is pushing a broader and potentially more costly sugar tax, proposing excise rates of up to P20 on beverages using caloric sweeteners and P40 on those containing high-fructose corn syrup.