MANILA, Philippines – The peso shed 6 centavos against the dollar on Monday, closing at 43.71 from the previous day’s 43.65. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $863.8 million, lower than the $1.036 billion posted on Friday. The peso opened the week at 43.67.
MANILA, Philippines – Palawan will soon be connected to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah as part of the economic and trade cooperation among the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said on Monday. Coloma said President Benigno S. Aquino III and leaders of the Southeast Asian countries agreed to concretize the proposed connections of roads, airports and seaports through the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Leaders of the four countries met during the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Myanmar and held the 10th BIMP-EAGA summit there. Coloma said aside from direct flights from Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu, private companies also signed a memorandum of agreement to establish the Davao-General Santos-Bitung shipping service, which will connect Mindanao to Sulawesi in Indonesia. He said the economic cooperation is also meant to boost the livelihood of citizens of the four countries. BIMP-EAGA is a subregional economic bloc established in 1994 to spur economic development and trade liberalization in the resource-rich area covered by the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua and Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and the island of Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
MANILA, Philippines – The peso slid against the dollar midday Monday, settling at 43.723 from the previous day’s 43.65. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $472.3 million in the morning, lower than the $503 million posted the same period on Friday. The peso opened the week at 43.67.
Many Filipinos are literally saddled with debt. As such, debt has been viewed negatively. Being in debt connotes a burden, and being buried in debt has a similar connotation as being buried six feet under. However, with all the negative beliefs about debt, debt can actually be your best friend and lifesaver. Debt is made possible through credit. It is important to understand that the word credit has the same Latin roots such as creed and credibility. This root word is credere, which means to entrust and to believe. Credere comes from ker-dhe, which literally means to put one’s heart into. Thus, good debt is a product of kind intentions, since the lender actually entrusts his or her money to you to save you from some predicament. For instance, your remittance is delayed, and someone in your family suddenly suffers from a medical emergency. To pay for this emergency, you can draw from your liquidity pool, but if it is not enough to cover for this, the next best thing would be to ask for financial help from a relative or a very close friend. Personal credit then acts as a bridge, allowing you to meet the expenses associated with the emergency, prior to you receiving your cash inflow. Let me call this kind of debt personal debt. Thus, a credit line can actually serve as a lifeline, in cases where liquidity cannot cover the essentials. However, being an extension of someone’s kindness, personal debt bears a responsibility. Personal debt Read More …
INFRASTRUCTURE spending grew by almost 50% annually in the first two months of the year as the government continued to speed up project implementation, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday reported.
SUBSIDIES given to state firms went down significantly in March from a year ago as the government disbursed less financial assistance during the month, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
(Fifth in a five-part series) AS we come to the final installment of this five-part series on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), it may be useful to recall the ultimate goal of pursuing freer flows of goods, services, capital, and labor. At the end of the day, the vision is to establish a competitive, sustainable, and inclusive region that is integrated into the global economy.
MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the investment firm of the Gotianun family, is pursuing synergies with its property unit through the launch of more hotels in mixed-use developments. The listed holding firm plans to put up as much as seven hotels through different brands in commercial centers and tourist spots nationwide in the next few years, its top executive said. “We have five to seven hotel projects in the works. Some already broke ground while some are in the planning stage,” said FDC president and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap. FDC has identified tourist spots Boracay and Tagaytay for its new hotels while mixed-use projects of property arm Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) in Binondo, Cubao and Ortigas Center would feature hotels, Gotianun-Yap said. Subsidiary FDC Hotels Corp. recently started the construction of the P3.49-billion, 192-room Crimson Resort and Spa in Boracay Island that would start operations in 2016. “Our hotel brand will be dependent on the location and the market segment,” Gotianun-Yap said. For instance, the company would put up an affordable hotel in the Cubao lot formerly owned by National Bookstore. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Hence, FDC would be able to offer a complete portfolio of hotels ranging from the affordable segment to the upscale brands. In Cebu, FDC operates the 400-room Quest Hotel and Conference Center in Cebu that caters to the middle income segment. FDC also owns Crimson Resort and Spa at Seascapes Resort Town in Cebu and Crimson Hotel Filinvest City Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Emperador Inc., the hard liquor unit of property tycoon Andrew Tan, is making its largest acquisition to date, taking over the spirits business of the world’s biggest premium drinks group. The $724.24-million takeover of Whyte & Mackay, which jumpstarts the expansion of Emperador into the spirits business, was approved by the board of directors of United Spirits Ltd. “The sale is subject to United Spirits shareholders’ approval as well as the Indian and UK regulatory requirements and is pursuant to a commitment goven to the UK Competition and Markets Authority,” said United Spirits, a unit of Diageo Plc. “Whisky is the second fastest growing spirits segment in the world next to brandy. With this acquisition, Emperador will be exposed to two of the fastest growing spirits segments in the world,” said Emperador chairman Tan. Tan said the strong global demand for Scotch whisky is expected to continue moving forward. “We believe that White & Mackay is a prized asset with excellent growth opportunity and its acquisition is in line with our plans to enhance our product portfolio,” Tan said, adding that White & Mackay has a distribution network in 50 countries. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For his part, United Spirits chairman Vijay Mallya said the company welcomed the deal given that the new owner who will realize the full potential of White & Mackay. Diageo partnered with Emperador in March to bring world famous alcoholic beverages to the Philippines. The new alcohol Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Sustained economic growth, continued improvement in governance and reduction of sectors in which foreign participation is limited will be crucial to achieving the European Union’s (EU) aim of doubling its investments in the country in the next five years. EU Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux told reporters during the celebration of Europe Day 2014 that while the EU is already the biggest foreign investor here it intends to keep its position by doubling the amount of investments in the next five years. EU’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in the country is worth 7.6 billion euros, around 30 percent of the country’s FDI stock. “If all the parameters I mentioned before (such as) macroeconomic management, improvement in governance, reduction of corruption and addressing the (Foreign Investment) Negative List (FINL) issue, if all these elements are there, there are high hopes we can reach that target,” said Ledoux. He noted that many European investors are considering the Philippines as a place to do business because of the country’s significant improvement in macroeconomic environment, investment grade status and the government’s good governance thrust. “European companies are interested to explore opportunity in a fast growing market,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said that through the revision of the FINL, the country would be able to attract more foreign firms to make investments. The FINL, which is released every two years, identifies investment areas or activities which may be opened to foreigners and Read More …