Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – UK-Barclays said it expects monetary authorities to keep rates steady next week but stressed macroprudential measures may be deployed. “BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) is likely to maintain a hawkish stance, as inflation inches higher, and growth remains robust,” Barclays said in a research note. “We believe some measures to tighten liquidity further, like hike in SDA (Special Deposit Account) rates or RRR (Reserve Requirement Ratio) levels, are likely,” the bank said. Monetary authorities, during their last meeting on March 27, maintained overnight borrowing and overnight lending rates but hiked the RRR by one percent to mop up liquidity. BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said inflation expectations remain within the three- to five-percent target this year and from two to four percent in 2015. The Monetary Board will revisit policy settings on May 8. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Barclays said it expects the BSP to hike key policy rates by 25 basis points during its June meeting. Overnight borrowing and overnight lending rates have been kept at 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, since October 2012. The decision to adjust the RRR in March was meant to scale down liquidity growth, which has remained above 30 percent since July next year. The relatively high liquidity growth was a product of the adjustments made on the SDA wherein the BSP restricted the access of investment management accounts and cut the interest rates on the facility by 150 basis points last year.

MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI), the real estate subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) earned the distinction as the Best Performing Company in Asia under the Mid-Cap category, according to the recently concluded 14th “Asia’s Best Companies” polls conducted by FinanceAsia. The annual polls aim to determine the best-performing companies in the region from the perspective of investors and analysts. Polling was conducted over one month and included Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia. FLI joins the ranks of some of the region’s powerhouse companies, such as Hongkong’s Fortune REIT, Singapore’s CapitaRetail China Trust, and Malaysia’s Hartalega Holdings. “Filinvest Land, Inc. is honored to be recognized as one of the top companies in Asia. Accolades like these inspire us even more to remain steadfast in our commitment to build the Filipino dream. We will continue to keep up with global standards and innovate to better respond to the needs of the Filipino family,” FLI president and CEO Josephine Gotianun Yap said in an issued statement. FLI is one of the country’s leading real estate developers, with almost 50 years of experience under its belt.  As of the end 2013, the company reported a 14-percent net income growth to P4 billion.  Total Ebitda grew 15 percent year-on-year to P5 billion. Real estate revenues came from the core of affordable and middle income segments, accounting for 92 percent of 2013 sales with the contribution of mid-rise and high rise projects led Read More …

It looks like the Go Negosyo bill is finally going to clear the Senate, which is excellent news for our SMEs.  The Go Negosyo Act of 2013 filed by neophyte Senator Bam Aquino is one of the better bills filed in recent history, and no less than the DTI (Dept. of Trade and Industry) Secretary Gregory Domingo is excited, bullish about how the spirit of entrepreneurship has really taken the country by storm in the last 10 years. Our guest recently in our TV show Business & Leisure’s One-on-One segment, Sec. Domingo recalled how, in his time, he (along with many others in his generation) was pushed by his parents to excel in school in preparation for an executive career. That seemed to be the only option then for college students graduating from four-year general courses, aside of course from specific courses like law or medicine. Now, though, even graduates of nursing or law opt to go into micro entrepreneurial ventures rather than burn the candle on both sides to earn little more than minimum wage. Take nursing for instance. During a protracted confinement at Makati Med several years ago (a first for me, and hopefully my last!!!), I got to chatting with the young nurses who kept me up just getting my vital signs over and over again. Apparently, just getting into prestigious hospitals like Makati Med was enough for these young ladies, never mind if they were getting less than minimum wage because they were still on training, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The ratio of government debt to gross domestic product eased further to 39.2 percent last year from 40.6 percent in 2012. In a report, the Department of Finance said the government’s debt to GDP declined to P4.53 billion as of the end of December 2013. Government debt to GDP, which peaked at 78.1 percent during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, has been on a downward trend in the past few years as the Aquino administration stepped up efforts to manage the country’s debt. Generally, government debt as a percent of GDP is used by investors to measure a country’s ability to make future payments on its debt, thus affecting its borrowing costs and government bond yields. This continuing trend of decreasing general government debt-to-GDP ratio shows government’s efforts to ensure sustained fiscal space throughout the medium term. The decrease in government debt level was attributed to the ongoing fiscal consolidation with deficit accounting for only 1.3 percent of the country’s total economic output. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Apart from this, the government took advantage of broadly favorable domestic funding conditions in 2013 to redenominate away from foreign currency debt. Of the P554.7-billion gross borrowing for the year, 94 percent came from the domestic market while the remaining six-percent comprised concessional foreign loans from development partners. This helped reduce the foreign debt component of government debt to only P1.95 trillion or 34.3 percent of the total outstanding debt. A decrease of local Read More …

    MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – Follow through buying pulled up the stock market today. The composite index Philippines Stock Exchange index rose by 0. 35 percent or 35. 06 points to close Friday’s session at 6, 742.97, while the broader all share index added by 0. 44 percent or 17.84 points to close session at 4, 068.96. Trading volume reached 1.63 billion shares worth P6.5 billion. Advancers beat decliners 112 to 64 while 37 stocks were unchanged. All six counters were up led by the mining and oil sector. “Corporate earnings over the first quarter which are due out in the days and weeks ahead should provide sufficient impetus to boost the measure further north,” Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. in his daily stock market comment said. The local stock market made a turnaround last Wednesday after falling successively during the past sessions. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Calaycay said, despite a recent visit by the bears, Philippine shares are poised to post its fourth straight monthly gains this year. He said, “the PSEI tested the 6,700-resistance in Wednesday’s trades, consistent with our expectations as momentum from the previous day’s rebound off a four-session slide spilled over.” The analyst warned that the real emerging concern globally however is the Chinese economy. A report on manufacturing activity for April is projected to suggest another pick-up even as Japan’s industrial and South Korea’s factory outputs missed forecast. Stocks in the 30 company index were mostly up. Read More …