Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. reported a net income of P542 million in the first semester, a 43-percent increase from P377 million in the same period last year. The company said revenue from the sale of electricity for the period increased 11 percent to P7.1 billion “largely brought about by higher energy sales in the power supply business.” Trans-Asia said available energy increased this year after subsidiary South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. started operating its second 135-megawatt (MW) circulating fluidized bed coal-powered plant in February, supplementing the first 135-MW unit that started commercial operations in April 2015. Adding to the higher energy supply is the commercial operations of power barges 101 and 102 also in February this year. The company also has renewable energy in its portfolio. Its wholly-owned subsidiary Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp., which operates the 54-MW wind farm located in San Lorenzo, Guimaras, delivered 61.3 gigawatt-hours of wind-powered electricity during the first half.  The company expects to boost energy supply from its portfolio with the addition of new projects. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the second quarter GDP growth was the highest for quarterly and semestral growth since 2014 and would enable the government to keep its growth targets on track for the rest of the year and in 2017. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – Economic managers of the Duterte administration said yesterday the sustained economic growth evidenced by the seven percent expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter would give the Philippines enough headway to survive external shocks. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the second quarter GDP growth was the highest for quarterly and semestral growth since 2014 and would enable the government to keep its growth targets on track for the rest of the year and in 2017. “Our strong macro-economic fundamentals will buffer the economy from external shocks,” Dominguez said. Headwinds are caused by volatile markets with the impending interest rate hike in the US, the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and the slowdown in China. With the sustained growth momentum for the past 70 straight quarters, Dominguez pointed out the Duterte administration would build on previous efforts to effectively implement its 10-point socioeconomic agenda. “The numbers are good for the Duterte government to hit its growth targets of at least seven percent this year’s second semester and 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2017,” he said. Dominguez acknowledged the good policies of both the Aquino and Arroyo administrations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Read More …

The Q2 growth is an upbeat start for the Duterte administration, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said. File photo MANILA, Philippines — The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 7 percent during the second quarter of 2016, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced Thursday. The Q2 growth is an upbeat start for the Duterte administration and is within market expectations, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. Pernia said the Philippines likely remains the fastest or at least second fastest growing economy in the second quarter of 2016 among the major emerging economies in Asia followed by China (6.7 percent), Vietnam (5.6 percent), Indonesia (5.2 percent) and Malaysia (4.0 percent). GDP is the sum total of all goods and services produced within an economy in a given period. RELATED: Phl GDP hits 6.9% in Q1 2016, fastest among major Asian economies The growth in Q2 was driven by the services sector which expanded by 8.4 percent compared to the 6.7 percent in the same period last year. “Among the three major economic sectors, services gave the highest contribution to the GDP growth in Q2 accounting for 4.8 percentage points,” the PSA said. This was followed by the industry sector which grew by 6.9 percent. The agriculture sector, however, was a poor performer declining by 2.1 percent. It pulled down the GDP growth with -0.2 percentage point. PSA said agriculture has been on the decline for five quarters already due to disasters, said Rosemarie Edillon, assistant director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority. “While it is normal Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – A unit of UCPB extended loans amounting to P114 million to 2,367 farmers nationwide as it continues to reach out to impoverished coconut farming communities. Edgardo Amistad, president of UCPB-CIIF Finance and Development Corp. (Cocofinance), said the loans would help finance the livelihood projects of coconut farmers across the country. “Coconut farmers are among the poorest in the agricultural sector; the livelihood projects we finance give them alternative sources of income to augment their earnings from the farm,” Amistad said. Cocofinance, formed in 1994 by UCPB and the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) companies, is the only lending firm in the country that caters exclusively to the credit needs of small coconut farmers. Over the past 21 years, Cocofinance has released P7.9 billion in livelihood loans to 408,158 households in 66 of the country’s 68 coconut farming provinces. There are currently 3.5 million coconut farmers all over the country. In 2015 alone, it extended P610 million in livelihood loans to 17,981 small coconut farmers through its countryside partners consisting of rural banks, thrift banks and cooperative banks. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The company has built a network of 434 countryside partners, allowing it to cover 20,300 barangays in 66 coconut provinces.  Amistad said Cocofinance is able to undertake development lending on a large scale because it lends money out of its equity unlike commercial banks that are regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas since they use deposits from the public. Cocofinance’s Read More …