The country’s gross international reserves or dollar stock is projected to hit its highest at $18.3 billion by end-December.

Universal and commercial banks’ real estate exposures rose 2.4 percent to P205.4 billion as of September, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The Board of Investments (BoI) has adopted a policy requiring its registered domestic-oriented enterprises to maintain at all times a 60-40 in favor of the Filipino equity structure to avoid losing its incentives or getting penalized.

The Department of Energy (DoE) has gotten new interest from American and Chinese firms in planned compressed natural gas (CNG) facilities, committing an investment amounting to $30 million (roughly P1.65 billion).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is giving the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) a few more months to comply with the 20 percent ownership limit of the brokers in the Exchange or face monetary penalties.

The government has withdrawn a total of 276 forestry contracts from erring timber firms and upland-based organizations following discovery of violations ranging from poor reforestation performance, abandonment, and failure to implement preparedness measures for forest fires.

The peso rate closed at P53.42 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. The weighted average rate stands at P53.449.

Failure to act now on a bolder action plan to get the country of its financial difficulties, according to more concerned Filipinos, means more waste of time and resources.

The fate of the economy, the peso and the capital market next year is expected to depend largely or in part on whether or not government can raise the value added tax rate to 12 percent from the current 10 percent.

Stock investors are likely to continue accumulating select blue chips with the current bullish sentiment in the market.

The Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) is all set on project blueprint and already in the process of identifying funding options for its proposed $770 million (approximately R41.58 billion at current peso-dollar exchange rate) worth of new investments that could harness a potential of additional 350-megawatt geothermal capacity for the country.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) is now advancing discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on requested partial credit guarantee (PCG) for initial $500 million worth bond issue that it wants to raise for the funding needs of the National Power Corporation.

The Berong nickel project in Palawan has obtained an endorsement from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and is set to complete an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) in order to start operations by the first quarter of 2006.

Ilocos Norte demonstrates what the whole Philippines can be in the next ten years: A major destination for Asian tourists, especially those coming from mainland China. Today, there are direct flights from key cities in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to Laoag, which is literally teeming with Chinese and other Northeast Asian tourists. Tomorrow, these direct flights could be to any international airport in the Philippines, with fares at rock-bottom levels.

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) forecasts a credit upgrade for the Philippines sometime next year due to its improving fiscal position, an expectation shared by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Board of Investments (BoI) has rejected the petition of the Malaysian-owned UEM Mara Philippines Corp., operator of the six-kilometer Manila-Cavite Coastal Road, for an extension of their income tax holiday incentive saying it is not provided in the law.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it has "fine-tuned" minimum requirements for eligible Tier 2 unsecured subordinated debt for easier distinction with the recently approved hybrid Tier 1 capital.

Even before Mindanaoans hold the Mindanao Export Congress on December 15, the region around Davao City has crafted a localized version of the Philippine Export Development Plan called Davao Export Pathway.

NEW YORK (AP) — The dollar was steady versus the euro but split its performance against other major currencies Friday, as the greenback again failed to find much support from strong domestic data helped it gradually edge higher against the yen.

The Philippines is growing more integrated with the rest of the world as shown by the increasing ratio of external trade to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The ratio of exports and imports to GDP increased from 52% in 1980 to 106% in 2000. Exports grew 32 fold — from R57.5 billion in 1980 to R1,859.4 billion in 2000. Imports expanded 24 fold- from R69.4 billion to R1,656.9 billion during the same period.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman concedes it’s unlikely that next week’s WTO summit in Hong Kong will result in any breakthroughs on the thorny issue of agricultural trade — and that’s just fine with many U.S. farm groups.

WASHINGTON — Ministers from six major trading countries in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations have set themselves a March 1 deadline for agreeing on a target year for eliminating agricultural export subsidies.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 11 (AFP) — Negotiations over a raft of free-trade deals between Southeast Asia and its neighbors have run into problems, but the region remains committed to striking deals, a top official said Saturday.

BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Reuters) — China’s clothing and textile product exports are expected to top $115 billion in 2005 in spite of a stronger yuan currency and textile rows with the United States and European Union, a state newspaper said on Saturday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Gold extended its sharp runup Friday on more momentum-based speculative and fund buying, as well as concerns about inflation.