Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Singapore-based DBS  said yesterday the weak export growth in April will have a limited impact on  the country’s   gross domestic product (GDP) growth.  “Any impact on overall GDP growth is likely to be limited,” DBS said in a research note.  “The main support for the economy has come from domestic demand, which remains robust and likely to continue supporting overall GDP growth above the six percent mark for at least the next couple of years,” the bank said. The country’s merchandise exports grew by only 0.8 percent to $4.544 billion in April from  a revised $4.51 billion a year ago. The Philippine Statistics Authority attributed the slower growth to the contraction in the shipments of electronic products, the country’s top export commodity. This brought the four-month tally to $18.859 billion, up 5.4 percent from the same period last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The government expects merchandise exports to grow by six percent this year over 2013 levels. Philippine economic growth, meanwhile, is forecast to settle between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco  Jr. earlier said economic growth may settle at a “more moderate pace” following the 7.2 percent expansion recorded last year.  “On broad expectations, we think that the authorities would be very comfortable even if GDP growth were to come in the lower half of the six to seven percent range,” DBS said. The bank expects the economy growing  6.3 percent  this year.   Read More …

MANILA — The Philippines has reduced its sugar stocks for exports by 90,000 metric tons (MT), or a third of the allocation for world markets for the 2013/14 crop year, to boost domestic supply and arrest further local price increases, the industry regulator said.

THE PRESIDENTIAL Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization (PAFSAM) has said that the government is to spend P750 million to address the coconut scale insect epidemic that has already damaged 1.5 million trees in Calabarzon and Basilan.

THE KEY in determining the taxability of a transaction is to know the nature of said transaction. This is definitely important in determining the taxability of a lease. A finance lease should be differentiated from an operating lease. Recently, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) clarified that a finance lease is subject to documentary stamp tax (DST) as a loan transaction instead of a lease transaction.

MANILA, Philippines – Recent developments in the five months to May affecting financial markets and the economy in general would be among incorporated in the updated Balance of Payments (BOP) position assumptions set to be released soon, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said. Central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. said in an e-mail the BSP is finalizing the new forecasts following the first leg of its biannual review of the assumptions of the BOP and its components. “The review [or] updates of the BoP projections are being finalized given the actual developments in both the domestic and external economic environment during the first five months of the year, including the shift in the direction of flows within this period,” Tetangco stressed. In the first four months of the year, the country recorded a BOP deficit of $4.493 billion, a reversal of the $1.811-billion surplus recorded in the same period a year ago. The deficit was blamed partly to hot money outflows amid volatility in global financial markets after the US Federal Reserve started reducing its monthly asset purchases.  The BOP shows a summary of a country’s transactions with the rest of the world. Components include trade, foreign direct and portfolio investments, and even remittances from Filipinos abroad. A surplus means more money went into the economy during the period, while a deficit means otherwise. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We observed that net portfolio investments have started to register net inflows in April and May, Read More …