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 – Public infrastructure spending jumped by nearly half in February, reflecting the Aquino administration’s commitment to keep the Philippines as one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. The government continued to pour more funds into infrastructure development with total spending rising to P49.8 billion or P16.4 billion higher year on year. Both local and foreign investors have long cited the country’s fragile and patchy infrastructure as one of the biggest hindrances to sustainable and inclusive growth. Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said increased spending on various infrastructure projects brought total government disbursements to P313 billion, up 11 percent from the P282 billion recorded during the same period of 2013. These projects include the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program of the Department of National Defense (DND) and those implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation and Communications and Department of Health. Among the transportation and communication facilities include the renovation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We expect to ramp up infrastructure and other priority disbursements further for the succeeding months, particularly post-Yolanda reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. As we deeply embed reforms in the processes of government departments and agencies, we are enabling them to improve their utilization of public funds,” Abad said. Accelerating reconstructing spending would offset the drag on consumption from the effects of natural disasters last year. “The Aquino administration’s reforms for faster Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Market optimism emanating from the surprise credit rating upgrade and positive economic data are expected to push the main index close to the 7,000 level this week. The slew of first quarter corporate earnings reports and shareholder meetings are also seen to keep investors interested in stocks. “Having breached 6,850, technical indications point to the Philippine Stock Exchange index’s (PSEi) potential rise to 7,000, which will be further aided by better-than-expected first results and improved economic prospects,” said Jason Escartin, investment analyst at F. YapSecurities Inc. Escartin said immediate support is 6,800 while resistance is at 6,900-6,930. “We might continue to rally this week as a second wave effect of the recent upgrade,” said Freya Natividad, investment analyst at Papa Securities. Natividad pegged the support level at 6,700-6,750 and resistance at 6,900. Week-on-week, the benchmark PSEi climbed 1.55 percent or 104.29 points to end at 6,847, its best since closing at 6,875.60 on June 10, 2013. It is also the seventh straight week the main index managed to post a weekly gain.The advancers were led by mining and oil that rallied 3.5 percent as world nickel prices surged while the property sector jumped three percent given the strength of the real estate sector. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Escartin said investors cheered encouraging news here and abroad. For instance, US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said the monetary authority will continue supporting the US economy. The Philippines received a one-notch credit upgrade to Read More …
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 …