BSP eyes news sentiment index launch in 2023

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday said it is now in the process of acquiring the tools for its big data projects, which it targets to be at full operations by next year.

At a virtual briefing, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank is working to launch its news sentiment index — which aims to capture views on key macroeconomic events — by 2023.

“At the moment, the BSP is procuring the necessary systems and tools to support our big data projects, such as the news sentiment index,” Diokno told reporters.

“Once these are procured, the BSP would be able to transition our prototypes to fully operational applications by 2023,” he continued.

The news sentiment index will use advanced methods in data collection and processing, with the use of a computer program to automatically gather information on economic, financial, and business news.

It will first collect news from financial and business news sectors, and rate the probability that an article is positive, neutral, or negative. The sentiment score will be based on the choice of words or writing style of the articles.

“To incorporate the use of big data and advanced analytics in BSP operations, the BSP pursues further modernization of its information technology infrastructure,” Diokno said.

The news sentiment index is in line with the central bank’s Big Data Roadmap Initiative, in a bid to ensure that all types of data across the bank are uniform and compliant with domestic laws and consistent with best practices.

The BSP said the new index will be complementary to its other data such as the Business Expectations Survey (BES) and the Consumers Expectations Survey (CES) released on a quarterly basis.

Diokno noted that the index will only take into account news from “recognized and reputable” media outlets in the country and will not cover fake news.

“The BSP ensures it only uses truthful and fact-checked data in its decisions and policies,” he explained.

The governor also added that the index will narrow information doubts by providing sentiment data more frequently, and allow the central bank to intervene and make timely policy decisions based on the prevailing economic environment. — RSJ, GMA News