Maniolas

After months of falling below target, inflation could finally hover back to the government’s target in the remainder of the year, an official of the Department of Finance said. File photo MANILA, Philippines – After months of falling below target, inflation could finally hover back to the government’s target in the remainder of the year, an official of the Department of Finance said. This was after consumer prices rose to their fastest in 18 months at 2.3 percent in September, falling within the central bank’s two to four-percent target for the year. “Core inflation suggests that in the short-term, headline inflation rate will be above two percent,” Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said in his economic bulletin dated Oct. 5. Core inflation pertains to the long-run trend of inflation, which excludes transitory effects coming from volatile prices of food, oil and energy. The indicator hit 2.3 percent last month. According to Beltran, last month’s result, as measured by the consumer price index, was largely driven by low base effects of just 0.4 percent from last year, and thus should not be a cause for concern. “A continued regime of stable prices will provide cushion to absorb shocks to the economy and help sustain rapid economic growth,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This was driven highly by increase in oil and electricity prices, with Beltran pointing to adjustments made by the “big three” oil players namely Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell and Caltex. Specifically, he said average Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Banks and other financial institutions are open to a proposal allowing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to use other properties as collateral for loans, aside from land and other immovable assets, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said yesterday. During the technical working group (TWG) meeting conducted by the Senate committee on banks on Senate Bill 354 or the proposed Secured Transactions Act, different financial associations and concerned government agencies have supported the passage of the measure. The TWG was attended by representatives from the Department of Finance, Land Registration Authority (LRA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Credit Information Corporation (CIC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, banks, financing organizations and MSMEs. Aquino, who authored SB 354, said the proposal can provide a win-win situation for both MSMEs and banks with a healthier loan environment. He said the measure can address the lack of capital of MSMEs to promote their growth. “The proposal encourages financial institutions to take part in MSME development without the fear of great risk,” the senator said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Usually, banks prefer immovable assets, such as houses or land, as loan collateral, he said. However, assets of MSMEs are mostly personal in nature, including equipment, inventory, motor vehicles and receivables, making it difficult for them to meet bank requirements to get loan approvals, he said. During the TWG, different stakeholders said MSMEs can easily acquire loans they need if banks would accept movable collaterals such as goods, livestock Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has shuttered the Rural Bank of Luna (Isabela), bringing to 16 the number of financial institutions closed down by the regulator as part of efforts to weed out weak players in the industry. The closed rural bank was placed under the supervision of the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). Under the PDIC Charter, a bank that has been placed under liquidation shall in no case be re-opened and permitted to resume banking business. BSP officer-in-charge Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the country’s banking system has evolved over the years with the closure of some players as well as the mergers and consolidation of the others. “The system is evolving so what we are seeing is the weaker players have decided to get out of the system or combine with the others. We keep saying compared with 10 years ago the banking system today, those that remain will continue to service the market is more stronger than the banking system 10 years ago,” he said. Espenilla cited the weak banking system in Europe prompting the European Central Bank to release more liquidity in their financial system. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “In Europe there is something wrong with the banking system so what is happening to them they are unable to grow even though the central bank there keeps releasing liquidity it doesn’t go out because the transmission channel, the financial system is a problem,” he said. According Read More …

INITIATIVES reducing red tape and corruption, and improving revenue collection were cited as key achievements by the Department of Finance in the first 100 days of the Duterte administration.

MANILA, Philippines – China’s CRRC-Dalian Co., the largest train manufacturer in the world, has expressed its interest to bid for big-ticket rail projects in the Philippines. Top officials of CRRC- Dalian Co. Ltd. visited the Philippines recently to affirm their “solid intent to participate in the modernization of the Philippine rail transport system”. Together with its parner CGC Worldwide Inc., CRRC-Dalian will participate in railway expansion and modernization projects, especially the North-Southrail project and the proposed Manila-Clark railway line and the Clark Subic cargo line. At present, CRRC-Dalian is the contracted supplier of 48 new train coaches to MRT Line 3 which will help increase the 13-station, 16.9-kilometer commuter line’s current daily capacity to 800,000 passengers from 350,000 passengers by 2017.  Chuanyi Zhou, CRRC-Dalian deputy general manager,  described the Philippines as the latest magnet for the world’s top locomotive industry players. “Our company wants to establish a foothold here well ahead of the others because this is one market we do not want to lose,” Zhou said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Zhou said the company has overtaken its rivals in Europe, Asia, and North America in their traditional markets. As such, he said it does not make sense for the company to fail in a country that it considers a valued friend and neighbor.” “We are determined to bring to the Philippines which we regard as a sustainable new market the most modern, safest, and the most technologically superior train coaches and rail network at Read More …