Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has rejected the proposal of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to impose a two-year moratorium on the conversion of agricultural lands as this would worsen the prevailing housing backlog.  DAR wants to impose the moratorium – for which a draft executive order has already been prepared – to prevent the conversion of agricultural lands into subdivisions. If implemented, this would be applied to land awarded under RA 6657, PD 27 and other agrarian reform laws.  Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said NEDA has already circulated among economic managers a position paper opposing the moratorium.  In the paper, NEDA argued that despite its intention to contribute to poverty alleviation, the ban on land conversion is actually “anti-poor” as it would prevent the government and the private sector from addressing the 5.5 million backlog in housing units especially those providing for shelter needs of the poor.  “The problem here is the ban on land conversion will have an adverse impact on housing because many areas are not really suited for agriculture but they are better suited for housing. We have a 5.5-million deficit in housing (units), we need more lands for construction. Most of this backlog is for the poor. It’s actually going to be anti-poor, this two- year ban,” Pernia  told reporters Friday.  The proposed ban would also delay, and to some extent, prevent the construction of vital infrastructure for which right-of-way have to be secured.  Business ( Article MRec Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc.  (Philexport) is urging the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to adopt a monetary policy that will allow the Philippine peso to be competitive and at the same time generate more employment This is in line with the country’s weakening exports which have declined for 16 months in a row until July this year. As a significant catalyst for sustainable economic growth, Philexport president Sergio Ortiz Luis Jr. said the export sector stands to benefit if the BSP promotes a competitive exchange rate to weather the export slump and help push inclusive growth. He said this would also benefit other dollar-generating sectors, including the business process outsourcing, overseas Filipino workers, and tourism. “What we are therefore aiming now is the institutionalization of this policy that can push inclusive growth by incorporating the words inclusive growth and full employment as one other important objective of the BSP’s monetary policy, along with maintaining price stability,” Ortiz Luis said. The export group chief said this could be done through amending the Central Bank law or RA 7653. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Ortiz Luis said the European Central Bank and the United States Federal Reserve are currently implementing the “dual mandate” of promoting maximum employment and inflation objectives. “Although the peso remains at a competitive level between P46 and P48 to a dollar, institutionalizing measures to cover times of excessive peso appreciation should be in place just as there are guidelines for Read More …

Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continued to increase in the first nine months despite a slowdown prior to the elections and growing foreign investor concerns in the country’s political landscape. File photo MANILA, Philippines – Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continued to increase in the first nine months despite a slowdown prior to the elections and growing foreign investor concerns in the country’s political landscape. Citing preliminary data, PEZA deputy director general Justo Porfirio Yusingco said investment commitments approved by the agency grew between three and five percent to about P78 billion from January to September. PEZA promotion and public relations group manager Elmer San Pascual, however, said these figures are still lower than the actual numbers. He said final figures would be released this week. “What supported the investments growth is the expansion and new projects that are being approved. There is also a slight increase in the number of locators because of new companies coming in but the substantial amount of investments still come from expansion projects of the existing companies,” Yusingco said. “As of July we have already created about 75,000 this year for additional jobs,” the PEZA official added. Yusingco said sustained investment commitments received and approved by the agency as of end September puts PEZA on track to hitting a five percent growth by year-end. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said there was a slight slowdown in investments prior to Read More …

A total of P135 billion in Treasury bonds and bills will be floated from October to December, the Bureau of the Treasury announced Friday. File photo MANILA, Philippines – The government has kept the amount of local borrowings steady in the last three months of the year, but is now leaning toward issuing shorter-dated papers amid expectations interest rates will rise in the US. A total of P135 billion in Treasury bonds and bills will be floated from October to December, the Bureau of the Treasury announced Friday. Broken down, P60 billion of T-bills and P75 billion worth of T-bonds will be offered to local investors. T-bills have payment terms between three and 12 months, while T-bonds have longer terms. While the amount of issuance was kept, four- and seven-year T-bonds will instead be issued in the fourth quarter. The government borrows from local and international markets to fund its budget deficit and pay existing debt. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The issuances will come during the period when the US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates a year after it tweaked them from near-zero levels for the first time in nine years. National Treasurer Roberto Tan has not replied for comment as of press time, but earlier said the Philippines was prepared for the US Fed hike. “The cost impact will be very manageable,” he said. While higher US rates may also increase local borrowing costs, Tan said the government’s preference for domestic Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – State-run National Electrification Administration (NEA) has opened a loan window for renewable energy (RE) projects to encourage the development and usage of cleaner sources of power among electric cooperatives (ECs) within their franchise areas. According to NEA, the new loan window seeks to finance not only the equity requirement for the development and construction of RE projects but also the cost of repairing or rehabilitating existing RE facilities of the power coops. The RE loan window aims to scale up the capacity of the ECs to construct, acquire, own, operate, and maintain generating facilities within their franchise areas as mandated by Sec.9 of RA 10531 or the National Electrification Administration Reform Act of 2013. “NEA is broadening the range of financing options for the ECs to guarantee their ability to provide quality and reliable power supply to their member-consumers,” said NEA officer-in-charge Sonia San Diego. “We have established the RE loan window, in particular, to encourage ECs to adopt embedded sustainable energy solutions, like solar farms, solar PV rooftops, mini or micro-hydro power generation systems, and small-scale wind and biomass projects, following the policy of the State to accelerate the exploration, development, and utilization of RE resources as stipulated in RA 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008,” San Diego said. For new projects, ECs can secure loans of up to 30 percent of the total project cost but not exceeding P100 million. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Meanwhile, maximum loanable amount Read More …