Maniolas

“No there is no evident sign of a bubble in the real estate sector today. You see there continues to be a strong demand for housing,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said. Tetangco said progress of the housing sector is expected to be sustainable due to the favorable demographics in the country with the young and economically active population. File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reiterated there is no overheating in the country’s property market amid the strong demand for housing from the young and economically active population. “No there is no evident sign of a bubble in the real estate sector today. You see there continues to be a strong demand for housing,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said. Tetangco said progress of the housing sector is expected to be sustainable due to the favorable demographics in the country with the young and economically active population. He added there is additional demand for property amid the changes in lifestyle wherein people, particularly those who belong to the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, want to have a place to stay close to their workplace. “So all of these put together, we can say that the real estate sector is in a good position at this point,” Tetangco said. Latest data from the central bank showed real estate loans extended by universal and commercial banks rose five percent to P1.14 trillion in end-June this year from P1.08 trillion in end-March. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: Read More …

In this Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 photo, an electronic board of the Philippine Stock Exchange is reflected on the mirror as a woman sips her drink at the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines. Analysts and businessmen point to uncertainties about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s policies and flip-flopping pronouncements as largely to blame for foreign selling in the stock market and the peso’s plunge to a seven-year low, reversing initial optimism after his June 30 inauguration. AP Photo/Aaron Favila MANILA, Philippines – Government economic managers said  the current financial market selloff won’t affect the Duterte administration’s economic program. “Economic reforms should continue to be implemented to boost growth and the country’s fundamentals should continue to be protected to sustain investor confidence,”  Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said in a statement. Beltran said the government should continue with its plan to boost spending and widen the budget deficit. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed 7,629.73 last Friday, ending the third quarter down 2.02 percent since the Duterte administration took over on June 30. Since the start of 2016, however, the benchmark is still up 9.74 percent, although it lost 1.22 percent last week alone. The downward trend was also evident on the local currency which settled at  48.50 to $1 last week, the weakest since the global financial crisis in September 2009. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The peso lost 3.06 percent of its value since Duterte came to power.  It shed 1.06 percent against Read More …

Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continued to increase in the first nine months despite a slowdown prior to the elections and growing foreign investor concerns in the country’s political landscape. File photo MANILA, Philippines – Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continued to increase in the first nine months despite a slowdown prior to the elections and growing foreign investor concerns in the country’s political landscape. Citing preliminary data, PEZA deputy director general Justo Porfirio Yusingco said investment commitments approved by the agency grew between three and five percent to about P78 billion from January to September. PEZA promotion and public relations group manager Elmer San Pascual, however, said these figures are still lower than the actual numbers. He said final figures would be released this week. “What supported the investments growth is the expansion and new projects that are being approved. There is also a slight increase in the number of locators because of new companies coming in but the substantial amount of investments still come from expansion projects of the existing companies,” Yusingco said. “As of July we have already created about 75,000 this year for additional jobs,” the PEZA official added. Yusingco said sustained investment commitments received and approved by the agency as of end September puts PEZA on track to hitting a five percent growth by year-end. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said there was a slight slowdown in investments prior to Read More …

A model of container ship with Hanjin Shipping Co’s logo, is displayed at its head office in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. Financially troubled Hanjin Shipping Co. will seek stay orders in dozens of countries this week to help minimize disruptions caused by its slide into bankruptcy proceedings, the Financial Services Commission said Monday. AP Photo/Lee Jin-man MANILA, Philippines – Multilateral organizations said the collapse of South Korean giant Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. is a threat to the economic growth of the Philippines. In its Asian Development Outlook, multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) said weaker-than-expected export demand from the country’s major markets is among the threats to sustained economic growth for the Philippines this year. Economic managers penned a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of between six and seven percent this year from 5.9 percent last year. The economy grew seven percent in the second quarter from 6.8 percent in the first quarter amid strong boost from election related spending. This brought the GDP expansion to 6.9 percent in the first half from 5.5 percent in the same period last year. This prompted the ADB to revise upwards its GDP growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.4 percent from the original target of six percent for 2016 and to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent for 2017. On the other hand, the World Trade Organization (WTO) slashed its global trade forecast, warning that anti-globalization rhetoric as well as the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Passenger traffic at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is seen to post a compounded annual growth rate of 10 percent in the next five years as its private operator continues to woo airlines to offer flights to new destinations from Cebu. GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) president Louie Ferrer said the projection was anchored on the 33 percent growth in passenger volume to eight million last year. “Cebu already has the necessary infrastructure and strong international connectivity. We want to take it a step further by continuously seeking new destinations that can be opened via Cebu, and in doing so open new channels for tourism and trade in neighboring provinces, most especially those in Mindanao,” he said. He said the growth of MCIA would also lead to the development of smaller airports in the southern part of the Philippines. “Airline partners such as Philippine Airlines (PAL) have also re-established regional hubs in Visayas and Mindanao. In fact, with the increased number of visitors, smaller airports connected to Cebu have already seen significant traffic growth,” he said. He added the increase in traffic is being seen more in the connection from Mindanao to Cebu than Mindanao to Manila. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Since GMCAC took over the operations of the MCIA in November 2014, 11 new routes were opened by airlines at the airport. The most recent route launched was China Eastern Airlines’ direct flight to Chengdu in China from Cebu last Read More …