Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Inflation is expected to have picked up pace in April from the previous month on the back of higher food prices, two banks said in separate research notes. UK-based Barclays and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. both said inflation likely accelerated to 4.1 percent in April from 3.9 percent in March. “Inflation (is) likely to tick higher as food prices rise at the margin, along with a sticky core,” Barclays said in its  latest Emerging Markets Weekly report. Inflation peaked at a two-year high of 4.2 percent in January before easing to 4.1 percent in February and 3.9 percent in March. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last week forecast April inflation to settle within 3.6 percent to 4.5 percent amid higher rice prices and upward adjustments in power rates. “Rice prices continue to move up this year, as supply constraints from low production and efforts to curb smuggling ensued,” Mabellene Reynaldo, research analyst at Metrobank, said in its Weekly Views from the Metro report. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 She noted regularly-milled rice prices have already gone up 19.2 percent from year-ago levels, while total rice stocks as of March 1 fell 10.9 percent from the previous month to 1.78 million metric tons. Moreover, the government will be importing 800,000 MT of rice from Vietnam to augment supply for the lean season in the third quarter. At the same time, Reynaldo said “higher energy costs are also expected to drive the index, as Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The price of bread outside of Metro Manila may increase as a result of the provisional duty imposed on Turkish flour imports, a flour   importer said. Malabon Longlife Trading Corp. president Ernesto Chua Co Kiong  told  reporters on the sidelines of the Tariff Commission’s preliminary   conference for the formal investigation of wheat flour imports from   Turkey yesterday, bread prices in the provinces may rise after the provisional duties take effect. “The most that will be affected are the products being sold in the  provinces. I am sure prices will become higher,” he said.      This, as Turkish flour is commonly used by community bakers for products sold in provinces.      “In the provinces, bread prices will increase by around seven to eight   percent,” Chua said.      He noted though that the price hike is not expected to take effect immediately.      “July is when you will feel the increase. Right now, given weak   demand, bakers will not be adjusting prices,” he said.      Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Earlier, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers, Inc. (PAFMIL) and Department of Trade and Industry said there should be no upward movement in the price of bread products such as Pinoy Tasty and   pan de sal as flour prices are stable.      The 450-gram Pinoy Tasty costs P37, while Pinoy pan de sal is priced   at P22.50 for each 10-piece pack.      Last month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued an order   imposing a provisional duty of 35 percent on hard flour Read More …

It looks like the Go Negosyo bill is finally going to clear the Senate, which is excellent news for our SMEs.  The Go Negosyo Act of 2013 filed by neophyte Senator Bam Aquino is one of the better bills filed in recent history, and no less than the DTI (Dept. of Trade and Industry) Secretary Gregory Domingo is excited, bullish about how the spirit of entrepreneurship has really taken the country by storm in the last 10 years. Our guest recently in our TV show Business & Leisure’s One-on-One segment, Sec. Domingo recalled how, in his time, he (along with many others in his generation) was pushed by his parents to excel in school in preparation for an executive career. That seemed to be the only option then for college students graduating from four-year general courses, aside of course from specific courses like law or medicine. Now, though, even graduates of nursing or law opt to go into micro entrepreneurial ventures rather than burn the candle on both sides to earn little more than minimum wage. Take nursing for instance. During a protracted confinement at Makati Med several years ago (a first for me, and hopefully my last!!!), I got to chatting with the young nurses who kept me up just getting my vital signs over and over again. Apparently, just getting into prestigious hospitals like Makati Med was enough for these young ladies, never mind if they were getting less than minimum wage because they were still on training, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The ratio of government debt to gross domestic product eased further to 39.2 percent last year from 40.6 percent in 2012. In a report, the Department of Finance said the government’s debt to GDP declined to P4.53 billion as of the end of December 2013. Government debt to GDP, which peaked at 78.1 percent during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, has been on a downward trend in the past few years as the Aquino administration stepped up efforts to manage the country’s debt. Generally, government debt as a percent of GDP is used by investors to measure a country’s ability to make future payments on its debt, thus affecting its borrowing costs and government bond yields. This continuing trend of decreasing general government debt-to-GDP ratio shows government’s efforts to ensure sustained fiscal space throughout the medium term. The decrease in government debt level was attributed to the ongoing fiscal consolidation with deficit accounting for only 1.3 percent of the country’s total economic output. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Apart from this, the government took advantage of broadly favorable domestic funding conditions in 2013 to redenominate away from foreign currency debt. Of the P554.7-billion gross borrowing for the year, 94 percent came from the domestic market while the remaining six-percent comprised concessional foreign loans from development partners. This helped reduce the foreign debt component of government debt to only P1.95 trillion or 34.3 percent of the total outstanding debt. A decrease of local Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima was the Alumni Merit awardee for the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in the 2014 Northwestern University Alumni Awards.  Having finished his MBA in Kellogg in 1983, Purisima was recognized together with 10 other Northwestern alumni for his high achievement as “Finance Minister of the Year” in the last four years by Euromoney, London-based Emerging Markets and The Banker, a subsidiary of Financial Times, along with the successful fiscal reforms he instituted under the administration of President Aquino. Likewise, he was also lauded for being the first and only Filipino thus far to head an area practice of a “Big 4”, when he became an area managing partner for the Asia-Pacific region for assurance and business services, prior to his stint in government. “I would like to express my gratitude to Northwestern University for this distinction. Kellogg is where I have learned the various tools and frameworks which have guided me in formulating key policy decisions, especially in my current responsibility as secretary of finance. This award is another testament that the good governance agenda under the leadership of President Aquino is highly regarded by our peers from around the world,” Purisima said. Among this year’s awardees was Cody Keenan, a 2002 graduate of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, who was honored with the 2014 Emerging Leader Award for his notable contribution as assistant to the President of the United States and director of speechwriting at the White House. The top Read More …