Your Morning Fix

• The Department of Agriculture said rice millers have pledged to raise their buying prices to at least PHP 17 per kilo for wet palay and PHP 21 per kilo for dry palay.
• According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, digital payments in the Philippines surged in 2025, with InstaPay and PESONet transactions reaching a combined PHP 24.745 trillion, a 42% increase from the previous year.
• Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show claims for new unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 to 200,000 last week, while continuing claims fell by 26,000 to 1.849 million.
• The US economy grew at a revised 4.4% annualized pace in Q3 2025 from the initially reported 4.3%, driven by upward revisions in exports and investment, despite a downward revision to consumer spending.
• South Korea’s economy contracted 0.3% on a quarter-on-quarter basis in Q4 2025 amid weak investment and exports, decelerating from 1.3% in the previous quarter.