THE ECONOMY is expected to post at least a 7% expansion this year, as it sustains the momentum of strong investment-led growth, backed by foreign inflows and jacked-up infrastructure spending, analysts at First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) said yesterday.
THE Philippine economy likely expanded by at least 7% during the first quarter due to the rebound in exports and farm output, analysts at First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) said yesterday, placing the country on track to achieve the government’s growth goal for the year.
SLOWER GROWTH in the three months to September will be offset in the rest of the year by strong infrastructure spending, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said in a report.
ECONOMIC GROWTH in the second quarter could recover from the slowdown seen in the first three months of 2015 on the back of easing inflation, a pickup in public spending and gains in the labor market, First Metro Investments Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said in a new report.
Philippine Stocks Exchange (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Despite the natural calamities last year, higher spending by the government and private sectors to fund the reconstruction of damaged areas will sustain the growth momentum this year, First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banker of the Metrobank Group said Monday. While the Philippines suffered the devastation wreaked by storms and earthquakes, 2013 was a watershed for the Southeast Asian market economy which gained investment grade rating from the top global debt watchers, Francisco Sebastian, FMIC chairman told reporters in a briefing in Makati City. “The country has shown resilience, we are still the best performing economy in ASEAN with a 7.4 percent GDP growth in the first nine months of 2013, Sebastian said. “Our fundamentals remain intact and will be able to withstand volatilities in 2014, be it domestic or global,” he added. “In 2014, the country’s GDP is projected at 7 to 7.5 percent – buoyed by the same growth drivers that continue to fuel the economy plus the robust reconstruction and rehabilitation work in typhoon- and earthquake-stricken Visayas, which will further spur public and private spending,” Sebastian noted. The economy grew at 7.4 percent on average in the first three quarters of 2013, the fastest among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Inflation, remittances, exports Inflation, according to FMIC, will register at a manageable level between 3.8 percent and 4 percent in 2014. So far, inflation was 2.8 percent on average in the first 11 months of 2013 The Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allowed First Metro Philippine Equity ETF Inc. of the Metrobank Group to register and offer shares to the public, making it the first firm to offer the new investment vehicle called exchange-traded funds (ETF). Specifically, First Metro Philippine ETF, a subsidiary of Metrobank’s investment banking arm First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), can now offer its entire authorized capital stock of P3 billion consisting of 30 million common shares at a par value of P100 apiece. ETFs are securities and investment instruments that monitor a commodity of assets like an index fund but trades like a normal stock in an exchange. “First Metro Philippine ETF aims to provide returns that would reflect the performance of the Philippine equities market by investing in a basket of securities included in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi),” the company said. “The portfolio of the fund is to be rebalanced and reconstituted every six months in order to adjust to the current composition of the PSE,” it added. Under its business plan, the fund will at all times invest at least 80 percent of its assets in the highest 15 to 20 weighted securities of the PSEi. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The fund may invest the remainder of its assets in liquid investments, including cash, cash equivalents, money market instruments and shares of money market funds advised by First Metro Asset Management Inc. (FAMI),” the firm said. Shares of the Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) has retained its growth forecast for full year cash remittances at four to five percent on the back of strong global demand for Filipino workers in other countries. According to the latest issue of The Market Call, a joint monthly publication of FMIC and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), the level of remittances continued to be buoyant with dollar and peso values posting above year-to-date level growth rates. The announcement by the US Federal Reserve late May of a possible fourth round of quantitative easing – the practice of buying $85 billion in US Treasury and mortgage bonds a month – later this year spooked portfolio investors and forced many to reduce exposure in emerging markets and risky assets. This translated into the highest trading volatility for the peso for the year as it ranged from 41.91 to 43.89 or a 3.9 percent depreciation of the peso-dollar exchange rate to an average of 42.91 in June. This was a reversal of a 0.4 percent rise of the peso in May that brought it to its highest level since January 2012. FMIC-UAP expressed confidence that remittances would remain robust due to sustained strong demand for skilled and professional Filipino workers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Market Call cited data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that showed the number of Filipinos who got their overseas job orders approved from January to May this year remained Read More …
INFLATION could fall below 3% in the second quarter with commodity and fuel prices likely to ease on the back of better inventories and continued slow demand due to the weak global economic environment, according to First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P).