Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Interest rates of national government debt slipped to their lowest level in three months in July even as the peso weakened, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed. The weighted average interest rate of government liabilities inched down to 5.06 percent in July from 5.07 percent in the first semester and 5.09 percent in May. It matched the level hit at the beginning of the year and was just a notch higher than April’s 5.05 percent, which was the lowest achieved so far for 2016. Earlier, Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. said the peso’s weakness and the impending increase in US interest rates should not be a cause for concern. “I don’t think it will have an impact on our debts. It’s not alarming since we have also decreased significantly our reliance to foreign funding,” Ravelas said in a phone interview. “The new administration will maintain the borrowing program, which is 80 percent (sourced) locally and 20 percent (abroad). There should not be any problem,” he said earlier. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Lower interest rates allow the government to shell out less money for debt settlements and funnel them to social and economic projects. Broken down, existing external debts actually enjoyed lower rates than their local counterparts, data showed. Foreign obligations maintained their average interest rate of 4.46 percent in the first seven months. Domestic debts fetched a higher 5.39 percent, down from 5.4 percent in the Read More …

Data showed the net income of the central bank amounted to P10.95 billion from January to July, a complete reversal of the P3.55 billion losses booked in the first half of last year.  MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recorded profits in the first seven months on the back of higher revenues, lower expenses as well as higher gains on its foreign exchange operations. Data showed the net income of the central bank amounted to P10.95 billion from January to July, a complete reversal of the P3.55 billion losses booked in the first half of last year. The central bank’s revenues jumped 45.02 percent to P45.02 billion from P34.97 billion as interest earnings rose 26 percent to P27.06 billion from P21.47 billion, while miscellaneous income coming from trading gains from domestic and foreign currency securities jumped 32.9 percent to P17.96 billion from P13.51 billion. Expenses slipped 2.7 percent to P40.57 billion in the first seven months from P41.69 billion in the same period last year. Interest expense on loans payable and other foreign currency deposits as well as cost of minting or printing of currencies declined 7.6 percent to P26.17 billion from P28.31 billion. Gains on foreign exchange fluctuations amounted to P6.5 billion from January to July as against losses amounting to P3.55 billion which was incurred in the same period last year. The BSP books gains or losses from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on matured, sold, paid and/or exchanged or settled foreign exchange assets and Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) sees strong growth in the sales of trucks in view of the increased requirement for brand new, heavy-duty trucks in the country. Froilan Dytianquin, MMPC first vice president for marketing told reporters there is a growing demand for trucks in the Philippines due to government policy, as well as an increase in public and private spending for infrastructure. “Most of the companies are already shifting to brand new trucks, not used trucks from Japan, because I think right now the government would also like to implement that 15-year rule. There’s now a sudden growth on brand new trucks, not only on the light duty, but up to heavy duty trucks,” Dytianquin said on the sidelines of the 6th Philippine International Motor Show. “And of course the construction is booming so there’s a lot of infrastructure, not only privately, but also the government. There’s going to be a lot of requirement for trucks,” he added. According to the company official, MMPC’s truck sales, alone, have so far increased by 15 percent this year as compared to the same period last year. As for the whole industry, data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association showed sales of heavy duty trucks and buses jumped 91 percent with 193 units sold in June 2016. Light trucks also surged 41.5 percent in sales, while the trucks and buses category increased 48.1 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, Read More …