Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Earnings from Philippine merchandise exports posted a 10.5 percent increase in August from a year ago on the back of the strong performance of electronic products. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s merchandise exports were valued at $5.474 billion in August this year, higher than the $4.956 billion posted in August last year. The growth was seen as electronic products, which accounted for the bulk or 41.6 percent of total receipts, grew 10 percent to $2.277 billion in August this year from the previous year’s $2.070 billion. Aside from electronic products, other commodity groups that contributed to the positive performance of exports in August were coconut oil; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; machinery and transport equipment; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships; other mineral products; metal components, and chemicals. The PSA noted that Japan continued to be the country’s top destination of exports with its 19.1 percent share. Revenues from exports to Japan, however, declined 15.3 percent to $1.044 billion in August this year from the $1.234 billion posted in the same month last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the eight month period, the country’s merchandise exports registered a 9.2 percent increase to $40.748 billion this year from $37.330 billion recorded in the same period in 2013. National Economic and Development Authority deputy director general Emmanuel Esguerra said the double-digit growth of exports for the month is likely to be sustained. Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Finance supports a proposal seeking to create a megabank by merging state owned Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines. According to the DOF, the merger of Landbank and DBP is necessary as the functions of both banks duplicate and unnecessarily overlap with one another. The merged entity would be more effective, efficient and sustainable in carrying out the mandates of both banks, especially with the entry of more foreign banks into the country following the liberalization of the local banking sector, the DOF said. The consolidation of the two banks is also expected to complement the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), a unified structure of government bank accounts. Under the TSA, all government revenues deposited to accredited agent banks would be lodged in a single account with the central bank.  The TSA forms part of the government’s public financial management reform program, which seeks to simplify, improve and harmonize the financial management processes and information systems of the public sector. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 If the merger pushes through, the government expects the funding capability and branch network of the consolidated entity to expand.  As of end-June 2013,  Landbank had a total of 337 branches while DBP had 104.   The union of the two banks would give the merged entity at least 441 branches, enabling them to increase their presence. Redundant branches, however, may be closed,  which would result in savings that Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines generated P126.3 billion tourism receipts in the first seven months of 2014, with Korean visitors emerging as the biggest spenders. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) indicate that the average daily spending of foreign tourists stand at P4,167 during the seven month period. Korean tourists spent P33.89 billion or slightly more than a quarter of the total spending in the period, followed by visitors from the United States spending a total of P25.57 billion. The Korean market also recorded the biggest arrivals, accounting for 662,228 visitors on a share of 23.14 percent of total visitor traffic. Visitors from Australia spent P8.34 billion, while Japanese and Chinese tourists spent P6.3 billion and P5.48 billion, respectively. Substantial spending also came from Canadian visitors (P4.95 billion), the United Kingdom (P4.91 billion), Germany (P2.80 billion), Singapore (P2.44 billion) and Malaysia  (P2.13 billion). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 At the end of July, tourists were staying in the Philippines an average of 9.63 nights, or 1.36 nights more compared to the first seven months of 2013. Overall, tourist arrivals reached 2,861,572 or 2.24 percent higher than the arrivals in the same period last year. The largest arrivals came from the East Asian region with 1,343,864 or 46.96 percent of overall foreign tourist traffic. The region includes Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Tourists from the US reached 537,597, making it the second biggest arrivals in  the country. This region constituted 18.79 percent of the total Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s debt in proportion to the size of the economy is seen to decline further this year to 47.7 percent, according to one of the country’s top economic managers. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, part of the Aquino administration’s economic team who made a fresh pitch to Japanese investors to explore opportunities in the Philippines, said the government remains on track to trim the ratio of its debt to gross domestic product (debt-to-GDP) further from 49.2 percent as of the end of 2013. Speaking before Japanese government officials and businessmen, Purisima said the continuing trend of decreasing debt would ensure sustained fiscal space, leading to a stronger Philippine economy. Purisima said the Aquino administration continues to pursue a proactive fiscal, prudent monetary policy.  “Our debt to GDP ratio used to hover in the 60 to 80 percent range in the early 2000s… We have lessened our exposure to risks in the global financial market by decreasing foreign debt to 34.3 percent,” Purisima said.  Aside from this, the government has lengthened the average maturity of the Philippines’ total debt portfolio from 8.8 years to 10 years, Purisima said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Purisima  said the impact of interest payments on the country’s revenues has likewise gone down significantly.  “For the third year in a row in 2013, total revenue and tax revenue growths outpaced the nominal GDP growth.  While nominal GDP grew 9.3 percent in 2013, total revenues rose 11.8 percent and tax Read More …

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Philippine stock market opened the shortened trading week in the red but analysts say investors remain interested in the local equities. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.11 percent, or 7.65 points, to close at 7,239.38 today, while the broader all-share index managed to snatch a gain of 0.02 percent, or 1.02 points, to 4,278.11. The local bourse was closed on Monday for a public holiday. Trading volume reached 11.75 billion shares worth P12.68 billion ($283.22 million) with 98 stocks advancing, 70 declining, and 52 were unchanged. Of the six counters, only the financials and the property sectors bucked the trend. The composite index went to as low as 7,208, down by almost 40 points from Friday’s close before buyers trimmed down the losses. Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said the market may continue on its upward trajectory after the local central bank indicated that it has room to calibrate monetary policy. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Manufacturing growth in August may also spur speculation the economy may get a further boost from the sector, while sustained appetite for Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) may also inspire buying, particularly in infrastructure firms participating in the program,” it said. PPP is a scheme which seeks to entice the private sector to undertake public infrastructure projects with the Philippine government. Currently, there are seven big-ticket projects that are subject to President Benigno Aquino III’s approval. AB Capital Securities, Inc., however, warned that the market is already Read More …