Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Maybank Kim Eng has partnered with Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd to further expand its equity brokerage business for Asian markets. Maybank Kim Eng chief executive officer Dato’ John Chong said it entered into an agreement Mizuho Securities Group to expand their regional collaboration and extend its offerings in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “We are pleased to collaborate with Mizuho Securities Group to extend our ASEAN offerings and connect the region’s rich opportunities to investors in Japan. This partnership is a testament of Maybank Kim Eng’s strength in ASEAN, our deep understanding of the region and access to its vast potential,” he said. Under the agreement, Mizuho Securities and its overseas subsidiaries would be able to offer Maybank Kim Eng’s research reports and corporate access services to Mizuho’s institutional clients in Japan. On the other hand, Mizuho Securities Group would channel orders placed by these clients to Maybank Kim Eng Group, who is known for its strong execution capabilities and access to Asean markets. ASEAN including the Philippines is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and the partnership would benefit Mizuho’s institutional clients in Japan who would gain from Maybank Kim Eng’s deep and wide knowledge of the region. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Likewise, institutional clients of Mizuho in Japan would have access to the investment opportunities in the Asean markets. For its part, Maybank Kim Eng would be able to leverage Mizuho’s strong franchise in the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has revised downwards the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first quarter of the year due to revisions in the performance of trade, other services, public administration and defense. PSA revised to 6.8 percent the GDP growth for the first three months from the 6.9 percent earlier released. “The PSA revises the GDP estimates based on a revision policy approved by the former NSCB Executive Board, which is consistent with international standard practices on national accounts revisions,” said the state statistics agency. Even with the revision, the country still outpaced growth in several Asian countries in the first quarter of the year. The Philippines was the fastest-growing economy during the period among 11 selected Asian economies. The country outpaced China, whose economy grew 6.7 percent; Vietnam, 5.5 percent; Indonesia, 4.9 percent and Malaysia, 4.2 percent. Growth during the period was driven mainly by the services and industry sectors.  Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The industry sector was supported by manufacturing, construction and utilities. Services, meanwhile, was supported by trade, finance, real estate, renting and business activities. Former socioeconomic planning secretary Emmanuel Esguerra said while the economy continues to traverse a high growth trajectory because of gains the country’s main economic drivers, the agriculture sector continues to be a poor performer. Esguerra also noted that business expectations remain optimistic in the second quarter. He said strong domestic demand is expected to support economic growth within the near Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – A unit of UCPB extended loans amounting to P114 million to 2,367 farmers nationwide as it continues to reach out to impoverished coconut farming communities. Edgardo Amistad, president of UCPB-CIIF Finance and Development Corp. (Cocofinance), said the loans would help finance the livelihood projects of coconut farmers across the country. “Coconut farmers are among the poorest in the agricultural sector; the livelihood projects we finance give them alternative sources of income to augment their earnings from the farm,” Amistad said. Cocofinance, formed in 1994 by UCPB and the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) companies, is the only lending firm in the country that caters exclusively to the credit needs of small coconut farmers. Over the past 21 years, Cocofinance has released P7.9 billion in livelihood loans to 408,158 households in 66 of the country’s 68 coconut farming provinces. There are currently 3.5 million coconut farmers all over the country. In 2015 alone, it extended P610 million in livelihood loans to 17,981 small coconut farmers through its countryside partners consisting of rural banks, thrift banks and cooperative banks. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The company has built a network of 434 countryside partners, allowing it to cover 20,300 barangays in 66 coconut provinces.  Amistad said Cocofinance is able to undertake development lending on a large scale because it lends money out of its equity unlike commercial banks that are regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas since they use deposits from the public. Cocofinance’s Read More …

It does not need much imagination to predict what happens when our much stronger winds, thanks to climate change, and our very much older ships, a product of regulatory weakness, come together. Being a sea-faring nation where many of its 100 million citizens depend on crossing seas to get to a nearby island destination, motorized bancas, boats and ships have become one of the essential modes of transportation – not just to ferry people, but also cargo. Over the years, roll-on roll-off (RoRo) vessels have served as the backbone of inter-island trade and commerce in the country, offering a convenient mode of transportation to ferry agricultural produce and other products between ports. As much as government agencies earnestly try to ensure the safety of both passengers and cargo by improving their monitoring systems against overloading and departures during imminent strong winds and storms, the most basic problem remains: the existence of old ships. The Philippines has one of the most notorious history of maritime disasters. In 1980, 176 people died when MV Don Juan sank in the infamous Tablas Strait off Mindoro. Seven years later, 4,341 people were presumed to have tragically died in the MV Doña Paz sinking while crossing the sea from Leyte to Manila. MV Doña Paz, which collided with an oil tanker, had earned the Philippines a spot in the world’s listing of worst sea transportation accidents. Today, more than three decades after, our country continues to suffer from maritime mishaps, with still notoriously huge losses Read More …

Persons with disabilities and senior citizens may lose VAT exemptions to make up for revenue losses that will result from the lowering of corporate and individual income tax rates. MICHAEL VARCAS, File MANILA, Philippines — There is nothing final yet regarding proposals to remove value added tax (VAT) exemptions of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens, Malacañang clarified Wednesday. The Finance department wants to lift certain VAT exemptions to make up for revenue losses that would result from the lowering of corporate and individual income tax rates. Some lawmakers are against the proposal, which they described as difficult and “too ambitious.” Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the proposal to take away VAT exemptions would still be subject to further discussions. “There were talks about it but nothing is final yet. There (is a need to hold) discussions and to work out the details discussed,” he said. According to Abella, the proposed removal of some VAT exemptions is “a question of household accounting” as he cited the need to cover for the revenues to be taken away by lower income tax rates. In his budget message, President Rodrigo Duterte said the executive would propose a package of reform measures to generate additional revenues without burdening the poor. The tax measures to be proposed include the lowering of income tax rates for individuals and corporations from 32 percent and 30 percent, respectively, to 25 percent, indexing oil excise taxes to inflation, rationalizing of fiscal incentives and expanding the VAT base. The tax Read More …