REMITTANCES likely contracted in December, reversing the seasonal surge in money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), analysts at ANZ Research said, noting that such a decline would make the 2015 growth rates lower than the year earlier.
THE GOVERNMENT should continue forging trade agreements, investing in public infrastructure and implementing El Niño mitigation measures to sustain growth this year, the Finance department’s chief economist said.
Of the P3.002-trillion national budget, P702.9 billion is intended for infrastructure in 2016. The P702.9-billion capital outlay budget represents 23.4% of the 2016 total budget, and represents a 29.8% rise from 2015. According to the government, the programmed increase of infrastructure spending will bring the Philippines almost at par with the global benchmark of 5% infrastructure spending. Robust spending is good for the economy as it aims to link lagging communities to growth centers and people to opportunities. A significant increase in infra spending is also expected during this election year. Thus we see ongoing government projects all over the Philippines in various stages of completion.
THE PHILIPPINES should act faster to further ease business restrictions to attract more foreign investments as other countries in the region are becoming more decisive in their bid to become competitive, members of foreign chambers said during the weekend.
THE NEW antitrust enforcer has adopted preliminary rules and guidelines necessary to exercise its mandate under the Philippine Competition Act to review mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Action Plan 15 of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project discusses the desirability and technical feasibility of a multilateral instrument to implement the treaty-related measures in the other BEPS Action Plans (discussed in previous articles in this column).
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine firms sold a record $44 million in specialty food products at a trade show in the US last month, the Department of Trade and Industry said. The country’s delegation to the Winter Fancy Food Show (WFFS) also attracted 540 inquiries regarding their products and businesses from US investors in the West Coast. “Given the warm reception of social enterprises and their specialty food products in the WFFS, Food Philippines looks forward to the continued promotion of specialty food products,” said Rosvi Gaetos, executive director of the Center for International Trade, Expositions and Missions (CITEM). CITEM is the export promotions arm of DTI. Trade Commissioner Nicanor Bautista said the Philippine delegation was composed of 17 home-grown manufacturers that offer products ranging from processed fruits, frozen and canned tuna, ethnic food, condiments, sauces and mixes and snacks. Their buyers, the DTI said, were looking mostly for natural, organic, fair trade, and healthy products which all packaged to international standards. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 As such, the agency said best-selling items included virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar, frozen tuna, banana chips, frozen saba, organic muscovado sugar, upland rice and jasponica rice, and sea salts. Gaetos, for his part, assured local firms that CITEM will continue to explore opportunities for their products and services to be showcased before foreign investors abroad. “We are also considering a participation in the Summer Fancy Food Show to sustain the impression we have made in WFFS,” he said. According Read More …
Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) is set to undertake the widening project to address the increase in the volume of vehicles using the 93-kilometer tollway connecting Metro Manila to central and northern Luzon. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – A unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is set to begin work for the P2.6-billion North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) road widening project this month. Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) is set to undertake the widening project to address the increase in the volume of vehicles using the 93-kilometer tollway connecting Metro Manila to central and northern Luzon. “Traffic volume increases every year, so we need to build additional lanes in certain portions of the expressway in order to maintain the high quality service we provide motorists,” MNTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco said in a statement. MNTC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the toll road arm of MPIC. Data from MNTC showed vehicle entries in NLEX rose nine percent to more than 218,000 last year from almost 200,000 in 2014. The road widening project is aimed at expanding the existing two-lane portion of NLEX between Sta. Rita and San Fernando to three lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides, while the current one-lane stretch between Dau and Sta. Ines will be expanded to two lanes on both sides. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “These are where queues of vehicles usually form especially during holidays when many motorists from Metro Manila leave Read More …
For House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., President Aquino’s Executive Order (EO) 198 that merged the two state banks “came as a surprise.” STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – Congress leaders have opposing views on the presidential order that jumpstarted the merger of the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). For House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., President Aquino’s Executive Order (EO) 198 that merged the two state banks “came as a surprise.” “I think the merger should not have been done just like that,” Belmonte said. “We’ve been talking about this merger for quite sometime so this EO came as a surprise to us,” he added. The chamber, he said, would look at the legal basis of the merger, which will result into Landbank becoming the country’s second biggest lender in asset terms. The Speaker also said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima should explain why he pushed for the merger through an executive action instead of passing a law through Congress. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 But Senate President Franklin Drilon disagreed. “These are two entities which are created by law, but which the President was able to merge. Why? Because of the law that I authored, the GOCC Reform Act,” Drilon said separately. Purisima is ex-officio member of the Governance Commission on Government-owned and -Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) created under Republic Act 10149. The law, Drilon said, delegated to the President the power to merge, close or re-organize GOCCs such as Landbank and Read More …
THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Friday filed a civil case against a family that has refused to give the company access to an area where a toppled transmission tower needs to be repaired, placing Mindanao’s electricity supply at risk.