Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines generated P126.3 billion tourism receipts in the first seven months of 2014, with Korean visitors emerging as the biggest spenders. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) indicate that the average daily spending of foreign tourists stand at P4,167 during the seven month period. Korean tourists spent P33.89 billion or slightly more than a quarter of the total spending in the period, followed by visitors from the United States spending a total of P25.57 billion. The Korean market also recorded the biggest arrivals, accounting for 662,228 visitors on a share of 23.14 percent of total visitor traffic. Visitors from Australia spent P8.34 billion, while Japanese and Chinese tourists spent P6.3 billion and P5.48 billion, respectively. Substantial spending also came from Canadian visitors (P4.95 billion), the United Kingdom (P4.91 billion), Germany (P2.80 billion), Singapore (P2.44 billion) and Malaysia  (P2.13 billion). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 At the end of July, tourists were staying in the Philippines an average of 9.63 nights, or 1.36 nights more compared to the first seven months of 2013. Overall, tourist arrivals reached 2,861,572 or 2.24 percent higher than the arrivals in the same period last year. The largest arrivals came from the East Asian region with 1,343,864 or 46.96 percent of overall foreign tourist traffic. The region includes Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Tourists from the US reached 537,597, making it the second biggest arrivals in  the country. This region constituted 18.79 percent of the total Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s debt in proportion to the size of the economy is seen to decline further this year to 47.7 percent, according to one of the country’s top economic managers. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, part of the Aquino administration’s economic team who made a fresh pitch to Japanese investors to explore opportunities in the Philippines, said the government remains on track to trim the ratio of its debt to gross domestic product (debt-to-GDP) further from 49.2 percent as of the end of 2013. Speaking before Japanese government officials and businessmen, Purisima said the continuing trend of decreasing debt would ensure sustained fiscal space, leading to a stronger Philippine economy. Purisima said the Aquino administration continues to pursue a proactive fiscal, prudent monetary policy.  “Our debt to GDP ratio used to hover in the 60 to 80 percent range in the early 2000s… We have lessened our exposure to risks in the global financial market by decreasing foreign debt to 34.3 percent,” Purisima said.  Aside from this, the government has lengthened the average maturity of the Philippines’ total debt portfolio from 8.8 years to 10 years, Purisima said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Purisima  said the impact of interest payments on the country’s revenues has likewise gone down significantly.  “For the third year in a row in 2013, total revenue and tax revenue growths outpaced the nominal GDP growth.  While nominal GDP grew 9.3 percent in 2013, total revenues rose 11.8 percent and tax Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Mazda Philippines registered its best sales month on record under Berjaya Auto Philippines Inc, and best sales quarter ever for Mazda in the Philippines—all these on top of a 49 percent year-to-date year-over-year growth. Aside from the new monthly record of 355 units sold for September, this achievement also sets a new best for Mazda vehicle sales in the Philippines as sales from January to September this year have already surpassed 2013’s full year total. Moreover, the sales figures from each of the months of May to September 2014 reveal that these are also the best consecutive five-month performance by far for the Mazda brand. “Mazda’s growing sales numbers is a reflection of BAP’s commitment to the brand and its loyal customers,” says BAP president and CEO, Steven Tan. He adds, “Seeing how strong the demand is for our SKYACTIV technology and KODO-designed vehicles, we are even more devoted to bring in the latest brand new Mazda units on the road so that more people can enjoy Mazda’s Zoom-Zoom spirit.” Starting with the new Mazda6 executive sedan last year, followed closely by the CX5 AWD Sport and CX5 PRO crossovers, and recently the all new Mazda3 compact car—the response from the customers has exponentially grown the brand since BAP started its operations more than a year ago. With 962 units sold, the sales numbers for the most recent quarter—Q3 2014—is the highest for a sales quarter in Mazda Philippines’s history. The all-new Mazda3 is the bestselling Mazda, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The gross international reserves ( GIR) of the Philippines declined to $80.43 billion in September, according to preliminary data released by the local central bank today. The Philippine central bank said the September GIR is $440 million, lower than the $80.87 billion recorded in August. The decline was attributed to the revaluation adjustments on the local central bank’s gold holdings and other foreign currency- denominated reserves as well as payments for maturing foreign exchange obligations of the national government. The September GIR level is enough to cover 10.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 8.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 6.1 times based on residual maturity. The Philippine central bank has projected the country’s GIR level to reach $85.3 billion by year-end.

MANILA, Philippines – The peso rallied against the dollar on Tuesday, closing at 44.635 from the previous day’s 44.75. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $747.3 million, higher than the $475 million posted on Thursday. The peso opened Tuesday at 44.7.