BSP sees inflation slowing down to within-target levels in Q4 ‘23 Top listed firms may lose P6.15B to cyber attacks

Top listed companies operating critical information infrastructure (CII) may lose PHP6.15 billion in revenues per day due to cyber attacks, an information and communications technology (ICT) advocacy group estimated.

In a media seminar hosted by the United States Embassy here, Secure Connections ICT policy analyst Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos said the number is based on the assumption that these CII companies are compromised at the same time.

“It’s unlikely, but who knows. [There are] so many things are possible in these days,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

Largest losses per day are in the energy sector with potential daily losses of PHP2.8 billion, followed by banks at PHP1.5 billion, telecommunications at PHP1.06 billion, transportation at PHP631 million, water at PHP115 million and healthcare at PHP40 million.

Aside from these sectors, CII operators are also in business process outsourcing (BPO), broadcast media, emergency all assessment that inflation will remain elevated over the near term before gradually decelerating back to target range in Q4 (fourth quarter) 2023 in the absence of further supply-shocks.” services and disaster response and government.

Balance of risks to domestic inflation remain on the upside but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday that monthly rate is still expected to slow to within-target levels in the last quarter of the year without any shocks.

Mirandilla-Santos said this figure is only a fraction of the potential damage to the economy due to cyber attacks, as the number only counted firms listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

She said cybersecurity incidents have cascading effects that also compromise and cause damages to other sectors depending on CII operators.

“If there is no alternative to critical infrastructure, then it makes the cost much bigger,” she added.

Mirandilla-Santos cited some gaps in protecting CIIs in the country, including the lack of a national directive mandating government agencies with jurisdiction over critical infrastructure to promote information security, the poor awareness and adoption of minimum information security standards and the lack of clarity in institutional arrangements on cybersecurity.

To address these challenges, Secure Connections is urging

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported earlier in the day another slowdown in the country’s inflation rate last May to 6.1 percent from the previous month’s 6.6 percent, the fourth consecutive month of deceleration.

The average inflation in the first five months of the year stood at 7.5 percent, still higher than the government’s 2 to 4 percent target band.

The BSP forecasts inflation to average at 5.5 percent this year.

In a statement, the central bank said the May 2023 inflation print is within the central bank’s 5.8 to 6.6 percent forecast for the month “consistent with the over-

“The balance of risks to the inflation outlook for 2023 and 2024 remains tilted to the upside owing to persistent constraints in the supply of key food items, the potential impact of El Niño on food prices and utility rates, as well as the effects of possible additional adjustments in transportation fares and wages,” it said.

FBSP, P10