Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The government rejected all bids for the 91-day and 364-day Treasury bills (T-bills) due to the unreasonably high interest rates sought by banks. The Bureau of the Treasury,  however, sold P4.7 billion worth of six-month debt papers, or a little more than half of the planned P8-billion issuance. The yield on the 182-day bills went up by five percentage points to 1.82 percent.  Tenders amounted to P8.96 billion. National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said the rates sought by banks were “way way above where they should be.” Had it accepted the bids, the rate of the 91-day bills would have risen by  89 percentage points from 1.42 percent to 2.31 percent.  Tenders reached only P6 billion, short of the P8-billion planned offering. The rate  for the 364-debt paper would have risen by 21.9 percentage points to 2.059 percent.  Bids amounted to P7.2 billion, 20 percent more than the P6 billion on offer. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “No reason for rates to drastically rise.  They’re asking for much bigger increase in rates,” De Leon said. The government has programmed to sell P135 billion worth of debt instruments in the first quarter of the year as part of a fund-raising initiative to augment its expenditure requirements. About 86 percent of the government’s borrowing requirements will come from the domestic market while the balance of  14 percent will come from international lenders. Foreign borrowings are done through the sale of sovereign bonds in the international Read More …

Early this year, Executive Order (EO) No. 68-A, Series of 2014, amending EO No. 68, Series of 2012 was issued to simplify the terms of the VAT tax credit certificate (TCC) monetization program, and thereby promote conducive business environment and raise the business credibility of the government. Pursuant to EO No. 68-A, the Department of Finance (DOF), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) issued Joint Circular No. 2-2014 providing for the mechanism for qualified VAT-registered persons to receive the cash equivalent of their outstanding VAT TCCs. Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 82-2014 circularizes the full text of the said joint circular.   The joint circular provides that VAT TCCs for which the BIR has issued the corresponding notice of payment schedule (NPS) and VAT drawback TCCs approved for monetization by the BOC, are qualified for monetization under the joint circular. Similarly, all other VAT TCCs outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2012 not covered for monetization and VAT TCCs issued after Dec. 31, 2012, are qualified for cash conversion, notwithstanding the existing administrative regulations, guidelines or conditions prohibiting or restricting the cash conversion of VAT TCCs. Specifically, the joint circular provides the procedures in which holders of VAT TCCs with BIR-issued NPS may present the NPS to the BIR for payment on or before the maturity dates indicated thereon. Within 45 calendar days from presentation of the NPS, the BIR should directly pay the total face value of the NPS, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine exporters are looking to enter new markets to grow revenues by 10 percent in 2015. According to Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., Senen Perlada, executive director of the public-private Export Development Council and director of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Export Marketing Bureau, said local exporters are looking for opportunities to expand market share and penetrate new markets. “Hopefully, we can extend a bit our markets maybe to more of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Plus (countries). (And) I think maybe Turkey, hopefully a bit of Brazil and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) countries,” he said. The GCC groups Middle Eastern countries United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. Top markets for Philippine exports at present include Japan, US and China. Apart from bringing its products to new markets, Perlada said the country would also focus on job-creating export industries. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We will focus on those products that will contribute to inclusive growth. These include crustacean, mollusks, fresh and processed foods, still electronics and halal organic and natural products,” he said. Under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for 2014 to 2016 submitted by the EDC to President Aquino, total exports are targeted to grow by 8- to 9.3 percent in 2014 from $78.5 billion in 2013. Earlier, the DTI said exports in 2014 may grow by 10- to 11-percent given the recovery of the electronics sector Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is beefing up its budget for capital expenditures this year by $75 million (P3.375 billion at P45:$1) to bankroll its overseas and domestic expansion projects. ICTSI assistant corporate secretary Benjamin Gorospe III said the company’s board of directors approved the appropriation of a portion of ICTSI’s existing retained earnings. The port giant has yet to announce its capital expenditures for 2015 but has allocated $310 million for 2014 to expand its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and bankroll its overseas expansion particularly in Mexico, Argentina, Honduras, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ICTSI is spending P3 billion to expand MICT and to put up an inland container depot in Laguna.                          ICTSI has allocated P1.6 billion to bankroll the first phase of the expansion project of MICT through the development of six hectares of new yard space. The listed port operator has completed Phase 1 of the company’s berth seven-yard development by deploying four hectares of new yard space to serve as empty container depot that could store up to 4,300 containers in moderate wind conditions. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Furthermore, another two hectares would be competed by yearend bringing to 6,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) the total capacity of the new empty container depot. ICTSI said the new yard is part of the company’s expansion project for the MICT aimed at immediately addressing growing volumes at the Port of Manila. The expansion Read More …

A person with a passion to excel will always outperform the 99 others who merely have interest to do the same. I have been in the leadership training business for so long. And while many people who went through the training would rate the session as high and describe it as: • Life-changing seminar • It drives me to improve • Can’t wait to go back to work and apply the lessons • Challenges me to become better Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Many of them do not actually build up the passion to do what they have learned even if they have the tools to do it. But there are very rare people who would take the learning investments seriously, put the principles they learned into practice and then one or two years later, they would send me Facebook messages happily telling me how they have been promoted and how well their performance have improved and their family relationships restored. What could possibly be the difference between the two groups of participants who attended the same program that was facilitated by the same person and yet produced two different results? Here’s how I see it. While one group of participants simply expressed the interest to improve, it is the other group who will carry the passion to make it happen. And when their efforts finally paid off, when they finally reached their success goals, those who merely expressed interest were left wondering why they never Read More …