Temporary break for consumers in the Philippines?

The archipelago entered into a sweet spot of low inflation and higher growth in 2012, but things may soon change.

Domestic prices for food, transport, communications and utilities may not remain in their favorable state with the impending rise in oil prices and waning of positive base effects.

Here's more from the DBS Group Research,

CPI numbers are on tap tomorrow and an inflation reading of 2.8% YoY is expected for March. Inflation over the last few quarters has come down sharply and the broad downtrends have been seen across the food, transport, communications and utilities components of CPI. The situation will change in the coming months as favorable base effects start to wear out and rising oil prices start to impact on domestic prices. That said, the pace of increase will be mild and even with oil prices hovering above USD120/bbl, inflation could still average 4% for 2012. For 2012, the country is entering into a sweet spot of low inflation (4% in 2012 compared to 4.8% in 2011) and higher growth (4.2% in 2012 compared to 3.7% in 2011). As such, the central bank (BSP) can be expected to maintain an accommodative monetary policy stance to stimulate credit and demand growth. We see no change to the overnight borrowing rate at 4% for the rest of the year.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia