Corruption issues drag down business sentiment

Business confidence nosedived in January 2026, according to the latest Business Expectations Survey (BES) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as lingering effects of the corruption scandal continue to dampen optimism.

In its inaugural round of monthly confidence surveys, the central bank said the Confidence Index (CI) remained positive at 0.9 percent, which “continued to indicate that more businesses are optimistic about the economy than pessimistic.” However, the figure marks a steep fall from 29.7 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

Firms in Metro Manila, however, were pessimistic in January, posting a CI of –8.0 percent, indicating caution from the country’s business center. Outside the capital region, firms were broadly more optimistic with a CI of 20.6 percent.

The BSP attributed the modestly optimistic outlook of survey respondents to higher consumer demand for garments, education services, loan products, mailing and shipping services, and motor vehicle parts, as well as ongoing business process improvements.

BSP Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald Abenoja previously announced the planned shift to monthly expectations surveys, replacing the previous quarterly releases, at a BSP event in Dumaguete City last month, targeting the first wave within “the first quarter.”

“To improve our ability to capture trends and better understand the structure of the economy, one of our key efforts is increasing the frequency of our surveys,” he said.

Abenoja later added at the BSP’s Monetary Policy press conference that results from the monthly surveys would be incorporated into the central bank’s future policy decisions.