Business
PH shares mirror drop in US marts as peso rebounds Wednesday
January 3, 2024, 7:23 pm
MANILA – After gaining on the first day of trading this year, local shares fell on Wednesday, mirroring drops in the United States’ markets, while the peso rebounded. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 55.16 points to 6,498.88 points, with the broader All Shares… Read More
Full power restoration in W. Visayas eyed Jan. 5
January 3, 2024, 7:19 pm
MANILA – The Department of Energy (DOE) said on Wednesday that electricity services in Western Visayas is expected to be fully restored by Friday (Jan. 5) once the grid synchronization of power plants is completed. The DOE said the grid is waiting for the 135 megawatts load from the Palm… Read More
Bureau of the Treasury fully awards T-bonds
January 3, 2024, 4:32 pm
MANILA – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Wednesday fully awarded the new three-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds). The coupon rate was set at 6 percent. The auction was 1.8 times oversubscribed as the total submitted bids amounted to PHP53.3 billion. The BTr raised the full program of PHP30… Read More
Economist: 2023 unemployment rate could ease; more jobs up for 2024
January 3, 2024, 4:19 pm
MANILA – The country's unemployment rate during the tail-end of 2023 could further improve due to the high demand during the Christmas season and possibly more job opportunities in 2024, an economist said on Wednesday. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said… Read More
ARTA to roll out nationwide aid for eBoss scheme
January 3, 2024, 4:08 pm
MANILA – Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director General Ernesto Perez said his office will roll out nationwide assistance in local government units (LGUs) to help them get on board the electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS) system. Perez said the ARTA is eyeing to roll out the caravan during… Read More
Households consuming below 100-kWh urged to avail of discounts
January 3, 2024, 9:47 am
MANILA – The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday urged eligible beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to register with their respective power distribution utilities (DUs) to avail of discounts on their monthly electricity bill. Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon… Read More
Stock market starts 2024 strong, peso depreciates
January 2, 2024, 8:15 pm
MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) started the year with gains on positive sentiment on inflation, while the local currency depreciated on the first day of trading of 2024. The PSEi closed Tuesday surging by 104 points, or 1.61 percent, to 6,554.04, with All Shares also… Read More
PH manufacturing index moderates in Dec. 2023 but biz outlook improves
January 2, 2024, 5:03 pm
MANILA – The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reported on Tuesday that the performance of Philippine-based factories moderated in December 2023 due to lower new orders and a drop in workforce numbers, but producers’ outlook was the highest since last August. The… Read More
PEZA vows more fervor in acquiring investments
January 2, 2024, 4:10 pm
MANILA – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Tuesday pledged to be more aggressive in getting more investments, especially from foreign sources, to achieve its PHP202 billion to PHP250 billion target approvals for 2024. “The strategic focus for 2024 revolves around an aggressive… Read More
Gov’t pays PHP1.5T in debt in 11 months
January 1, 2024, 6:29 pm
MANILA – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Monday reported that the National Government (NG) has paid PHP1.53 trillion of its total debt from January to November 2023. The NG settled a bigger amount of its debt obligations for the first 11 months of 2023, a 4.8 percent higher than its debt… Read More
Big LPG price hike greets New Year
January 1, 2024, 3:40 pm
MANILA – The price of cooking gas hiked between PHP3.40 to PHP3.45 per kilogram on the first day of 2024. Petron said it hiked its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices by PHP3.40 per kg or PHP37.40 per 11-kg cylinder tank for January while the Solane-branded LPG increased by PHP3.45 per kg or… Read More
Monetary policy, inflation in 2023
January 1, 2024, 11:15 am
MANILA – Risks from elevated inflation rate and external factors kept the Philippine monetary authorities on their toes in 2023. And while the policymaking Monetary Board (MB) tightened further the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key rates to a 16-year high of 6.5 percent, with the hike… Read More
PH secures 2 new free trade deals in 2023
December 31, 2023, 3:19 pm Updated on December 31, 2023, 3:32 pm
MANILA – The Philippines added two new free trade agreements (FTAs) this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and its trade pact with South Korea, to ease barriers to trade and investments and boost commercial ties among partners. RCEP entered into force in the… Read More
Nat’l gov’t gives P153-B subsidies to GOCCs in Jan-Nov
December 31, 2023, 1:54 pm
MANILA – The national government's subsidies for government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) amounted to PHP153 billion from January to November. Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was the biggest recipient of… Read More
BOI to help in commercialization, promotion of local biofertilizer
December 29, 2023, 8:17 pm
MANILA – The Board of Investments (BOI) has started collaborating with AgriSpecialist, Inc. (ASI) for the commercialization and promotion of locally-developed biofertilizer products. In a statement Friday, the BOI highlighted the BIO-N biofertilizer developed by the University of the Philippines… Read More
PSEi sustains 6-7K levels for 12 yrs; peso ends 2023 strong
December 29, 2023, 7:47 pm
MANILA – An economist said the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was able to sustain the 6,000 to 7,000 levels from 2012 to 2023, while the Philippine peso closed the year as one of the top performing currencies in the region. For the last day of trading in 2023, the PSEi dropped 60.07… Read More
P22-B pledges from PBBM foreign trips now operational
December 29, 2023, 6:45 pm
MANILA – Some PHP22 billion worth of projects sealed during the foreign visits of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. this year are already operational, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said Friday. Rodolfo said the projects are part of the PHP4.019-trillion… Read More
BIR imposes 1% withholding tax on online merchants
December 29, 2023, 6:01 pm
MANILA – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has announced that online merchants with earnings amounting to more than PHP500,000 annually are now subject to a 1-percent withholding tax. BIR Revenue Regulation 16-2023, issued last December 21, said the withholding tax will apply to one-half of… Read More
Marcos admin to continue to address inflationary pressures: Diokno
December 29, 2023, 3:35 pm
MANILA – Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno assured the public that while inflation has decelerated, the government would continue to mobilize efforts to address inflationary pressures. In a statement on Friday, Diokno said the Marcos administration overcame one of its biggest challenges this… Read More
Producer price index for manufacturing up in November
December 29, 2023, 3:25 pm
MANILA – The producer price index (PPI) for manufacturing slightly went up in November this year from an annual decline in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday. In a report, the PSA said the PPI for manufacturing registered an annual increase of 0.3 percent in… Read More
