Philippine businesses remained optimistic about the economy in January 2026, supported by expectations of higher consumer demand and improved business processes, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.
The overall confidence index (CI) stayed positive at 0.9 percent, although significantly lower than the 29.7 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Despite the softer CI, the BSP said business sentiment showed signs of recovery in the near term. Business confidence for the first quarter climbed to 33.3 percent, while the year-ahead CI rose to 38.6 percent.
“Stronger consumer demand and sales, improved domestic economic conditions, and more favorable investment prospects lifted business confidence for the next quarter and over the next 12 months,” the BSP said.
The January data represent the inaugural shift of the BSP’s Business Expectations Survey (BES) from a quarterly to a monthly schedule starting this year.
The BSP said the monthly BES retains the same sampling frame and questionnaire used in the quarterly survey, with minor wording adjustments to the reference period. The survey now covers about 500 firms nationwide, representing roughly one-third of the previous 1,500 firms.
The nationwide margin of error increases from about 3.0 percent to around 6.0 percent, remaining within the acceptable 5.0 percent to 7.5 percent range for enterprise surveys.
“The shift to a monthly conduct of BES aligns with the BSP’s broader efforts to enhance and expand its existing macroeconomic surveillance toolkit,” the BSP said.
