Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s outstanding debt slightly rose in October as the state continued to rely on borrowings to support its expenditure program. Data released by the Bureau of Treasury showed that the outstanding debt of the government stood at P5.71 trillion as of the end of October, up  1.2 percent or The latest figure, however, was lower than the P5.72 trillion registered in September due to the net redemption of government securities. A bigger portion or P3.75 trillion was accounted for by borrowings from the domestic market.  This marked a 0.1 percent decline from that in the same period a year ago. The balance of P1.96 trillion came from borrowings from foreign sources.  This was down year on year by 0.3 percent. The government borrows to help address the estimated budget deficit for any given year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Debt indicators highlight the steady improvement in the composition of government debt.  The high concentration of debt denominated in local currency helps mitigate the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations on 67.5 percent of the whole portfolio,” the BTR said in a statement. The BTR added that the borrowing strategy of issuing mid-to-long-term bonds has maintained the average maturity of government debt at 10.08 years to help minimize refinancing risks. Guaranteed debt fell 7.8 percent or P37.7 billion, driven by declines in the level of domestic (P21.8 billion) and external (P15.9 billion) obligations. The government maintained a policy of tapping more debts from the Read More …

NEW BRANCH. Kenneth and Kristine Kokseng talk to reporters during the opening of Hukad in South Town Center in Tabunok, Talisay. On Wednesday, Hukad introduced five dishes, which include spicy beef flakes, oxtail humba, balot sisig, tropical brulee and ube halayan crisp a la mode. The couple said the dishes will be made available first in their Lahug branch late this month or early next year. (SUN.STAR FOTO/ALLAN DEFENSOR) HOMEGROWN Filipino restaurant Hukad of couple Kenneth and Kristine Kokseng are set for wider expansion next year as more mall establishments sprout across the country. Kenneth, in an interview on Wednesday, told reporters there are two confirmed Hukad branches to open next year, one in Iloilo and the other in Zamboanga. At present, there are 21 branches of Hukad and Golden Cowrie in Visayas and Mindanao, the newly-opened one being Hukad in South Town Center in Tabunok, Talisay. The restaurant opened four branches this year. These are in Tacloban City, Tagum City in Davao, Bacolod and Talisay City in Cebu. Golden Cowrie and Hukad bear the same menu but the former adopts a stand-alone set up while Hukad is inside commercial establishments. “We’re more on Hukad because most of the expansions are inside the malls,” Kenneth said. Of the existing branches, Christine said eight are in Cebu and all are company-owned. The 13 others are franchised. The farthest branch in the Visayas is in Boracay and General Santos in Mindanao. The couple said they are also looking forward to open Hukad in Manila, Read More …

THE RESEARCH arm of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. has maintained its forecasts for the Philippines for this year and 2015 despite the slower-than-expected economic expansion in the third quarter, but noted that persistent state underspending poses the biggest risk to growth.