Business
Udenna Group denies links with Smartmatic
May 16, 2019, 10:40 pm
MANILA -- Businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group flatly denied that it has invested into a consortium that provided the vote counting machines for the recently concluded mid-term elections. The company said it does not have any links with the joint venture of multinational firm Smartmatic and its… Read More
Hotel industry benefits from Iloilo City’s MICE tourism
May 16, 2019, 10:11 pm
ILOILO CITY -- The hotel industry in this city is benefitting from the growing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibits (MICE) tourism, the new direction that is being pursued by the local government here. “Before, Iloilo City was festival driven, now we are MICE driven because most of the… Read More
Port of Manila operations improve amid decongestion: PPA
May 16, 2019, 7:16 pm
MANILA -- Operations within the Port of Manila (POM) have started to improve with the removal of many overstaying containers, which has alleviated problems created by congestion. The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said the yard utilization rate at Manila ports has gone down to 70 percent after… Read More
Coop airline firm eyes charter flights to Ormoc
May 16, 2019, 2:20 pm
ORMOC CITY -- The Leading Edge Air Services Corp. (LEASCOR) is eyeing to expand its operation in Eastern Visayas by servicing the Ormoc Airport, a top official said. LEASCOR Vice Chairman Gilbert Llanto said plans have been laid out to open the Ormoc-Cebu flight and introduce a hub-in, hub-off… Read More
Warm reception for 2nd Panda Bonds issuance: BTr
May 16, 2019, 1:58 pm
MANILA -- The Republic of the Philippines has successfully issued its Renminbi-denominated Bonds (Panda Bonds) of RMB2.5 billion with a tenor of three years on Wednesday (May 15), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) announced in a statement on Thursday. This was the second Panda Bonds issuance for… Read More
PPA remits record P9.41-B in dividends, taxes for 2018
May 16, 2019, 9:07 am
MANILA — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) continues its strong fiscal performance, as it remitted PHP3.51 billion in dividends to the national coffers in 2018. On top of this, the state-owned agency likewise paid PHP5.9 billion in taxes for 2018, more than half of the total taxes it paid in… Read More
Subic port operator gets new container handlers
May 15, 2019, 8:44 pm
MANILA -- The Subic Bay International Terminal Corporation (SBITC) has procured two new container handlers from international cargo handling firm Kalmar to further improve port operations in the Subic Freeport Zone this year. The Kalmar empty container handlers will be utilized for the Subic… Read More
Peso rebounds, local shares slide anew
May 15, 2019, 8:39 pm
MANILA -- The Philippine peso recovered against the greenback Wednesday while risk-off sentiments took over the Philippines’ equities market. The local currency ended the day at 52.35 from the previous session’s 52.435, which BPI Research said is only consistent with the rebound of other… Read More
SCTEX to add 20 new toll lanes
May 15, 2019, 8:37 pm
MANILA -- The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) will soon have additional toll lanes to make travel more convenient to motorists going to various parts of northern Luzon. Toll operator NLEX Corporation said it will construct 20 additional lanes in strategically located SCTEX toll plazas to… Read More
CAB won’t fine Cebu Pacific over series of flight cancellations
May 15, 2019, 8:09 pm
MANILA -- The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) will not impose fines against local air carrier Cebu Pacific over its flight cancellations from April 28 to May 10. Cebu Pacific was able to handle properly the concerns of passengers that were affected by the cancellations, according to the Department… Read More
TDF rates slide Wednesday
May 15, 2019, 7:21 pm
MANILA -- Term Deposit Facility (TDF) rates declined Wednesday on the heels of the reduction in the central bank’s key rates last week. Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the average rate of the seven-day facility fell to 4.5695 percent from 4.6925 percent in last… Read More
7-yr T-bond rate down, PH offers Panda bond
May 15, 2019, 6:29 pm
MANILA -- The average rate of seven-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) issued by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) declined Wednesday, much like government securities auctioned Tuesday. The debt paper's rate, which has a remaining life of six years and eight months, slipped to 5.743 percent compared to… Read More
DOE eyes 70% cap on power plants’ contracting capacity by Q3
May 15, 2019, 6:25 pm
MANILA -- Power producers in the Philippines will be required to have a 70-percent cap on their contracting capacities, likely by the third quarter of 2019, to ensure availability of buffer supply during times of need. Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, in a… Read More
Personal remittances rise to P8.1-B in Q1
May 15, 2019, 4:35 pm
MANILA -- Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year to USD2.8 billion in March 2019 from USD2.6 billion in March 2018. This brought the total remittances for the first quarter of 2019 to USD8.1 billion, higher by 3.7 percent compared to the USD7.8… Read More
Local markets weaker as trading resumes
May 14, 2019, 6:31 pm
MANILA -- The Philippine peso started the four-day trading week weaker against the US dollar, in step with the main equities gauge, which also ended the session with losses. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 1.23 percent, or 95.54 points, to 7,646.66 points, which a trader… Read More
PH T-bill rates down Tuesday
May 14, 2019, 6:17 pm
MANILA – The rates of Philippine Treasury bills (T-bills) declined Tuesday but this did not surprise Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) officials, given the recent cut in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key policy rates. The average rate of the benchmark 91-day paper slipped to 5.389 percent,… Read More
Over 7% GDP possible in Q1 if budget approved on time: DOF
May 14, 2019, 7:35 am
MANILA -- The Philippine economy would have expanded by 7.2 percent instead of 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019 if the approval of the proposed 2019 national budget was not delayed. This was stressed by Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran following the below-projected output of the domestic… Read More
RCBC economist eyes A-grade rating for PH in near term
May 14, 2019, 7:33 am
MANILA – An economist of a Philippine-based private universal bank forecasts an A-grade credit rating for the Philippines in the next two to three years due to sustained robust growth of the domestic economy, as well as the demographics dividends. In an interview by the Philippine News Agency… Read More
Drop in gov't expenditure growth held back PH in Q1: DOF
May 13, 2019, 5:23 pm
MANILA -- In the first quarter of 2019, the Philippine economy grew by 5.6 percent, lower than the 6.5 percent registered in the same quarter of last year and 6.3 percent of the previous quarter. This is due to the huge drop in government expenditure growth to 0.08 percent (in nominal terms)… Read More
More oil companies to cut gasoline, kerosene prices
May 13, 2019, 5:20 pm
MANILA – Local oil giant Petron Corp. along with Thailand-based PTT Philippines, are set to follow suit with a substantial cut in the price of gasoline that was initiated by more aggressive oil firms over the weekend. In separate advisories, both companies said they too would roll back the price… Read More
