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RP set to export 200 MT hybrid rice to Bangladesh
For the first time in 30 years, the Philippines is stepping back to the world market as a rice exporter with 200 metric tons (MT) of hybrid rice seeds to be shipped to Bangladesh beginning August this year.
Palace rejects forex intervention
Malacañang invoked the greater national welfare in rejecting appeals for a government intervention to moderate rapid appreciation of the peso against the dollar.
Senate approves SPV Law extension
The Senate has finally passed the bill extending the Special Purpose Vehicle Law, which will reduce the banking sector’s P400 billion bad assets by another P100 billion, will improve the industry’s non-performing loans ratio to 6.5 percent.
BoI restores cement in 2006 IPP
The Board of Investments (BoI) has restored the registration of cement production by relisting it under the 2006 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) to ensure enough market supply when the industry is expected to incur supply shortage starting 2010.
ERC sets P30.6-B cap on TransCo revenues
Pending final ruling on application for its Second Regulatory Reset, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has provisionally approved P30.6722-billion maximum allowable revenue (MAR) cap for the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) primarily to cover first half of 2006.
NEWS IN BRIEF
The peso rate closed at P51.30 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. The weighted average rate stands at P51.408.
Passage of Land Use Code sought
Congress has been urged to consider as urgent a bill on the Natural Resources and Land Use Code which is a platform for the development of the countryside, enabling it to massively develop over the long term, agricultural, forestry, fisheries, and mining areas.
ALI homestarter bonds generate interest
The Ayala Land homestarter bonds have generated a strong interest from the middle income investors with their good yield, flexible terms and bonus credits for end-buyers of homes offered by Ayala Land and its subsidiaries.
Stock market seen facing consolidation
The stock market is likely to move sideways and undergo some consolidation in the short term as investors are awaiting for more positive news from the corporate and economic fronts.
Cost recovery ban crimps power utilities
Any prohibition that may be triggered by Supreme Court ruling on the recovery of costs relating to purchase of power supply subsequently served to end-consumers is seen causing financial disaster to power distribution utilities.
Peso appreciation poses a challenge
The strengthening of the peso over the last four months poses a serious challenge to the country’s economy, the Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said.
IMF cites RP growth despite the odds
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cited the solid economic growth of the Philippines in 2005 despite weaker investment and net exports, and moderating inflation.
Disaster preparedness for RP finance sector can be improved
In the event of a disaster, most Filipinos cannot draw their money from their banks, securities and insurers right away.
Pre-need problems restricted to open-ended education plans
The problem of the country’s pre-need industry is restricted to open-ended education plans and sale of such plan was already put to a stop in 2002 by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Local IT company sets P170-M expansion
Local information technology firm Total Information Management Corporation (TIMCorp) is investing about P170 million to set up a new remote data center and a digital printing service.
Tawi-Tawi hatchery attracts private firms
Representatives of private companies have been visiting Luuk Pandan and Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi lately because a P10- million high-value multispecies hatchery and a P5-million mariculture park will be built there soon. USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program has been coordinating the site visits of private sector groups interested in exploring the possibility of investing in the planned hatchery in Tawi-Tawi Province.
Business and Society
The first definition of art in the OxfordAmerican dictionary is "the production of something beautiful." The late Pope John Paul II gives us the reason why work is one of the most beautiful human activities (probably next only to human love) to come out of the Creator. In fact, it constitutes the very essence of man being a cocreator with God. In following God’s command to have dominion over the earth, man participates in the creative process.
Car manufacturers agree to 1% biodiesel blend
The persuasive stance of government has finally tugged its way into convincing car companies affiliated with the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) to use at least one percent of coco methyl ester (CME) as blend to diesel products.
Exporters seek EVAT tax break
Export goods are supposed to be zero-rated under the Expanded VAT Law (RA 7844) but exporters are at a loss on how they can claim the tax break without clear guidelines.
LA cable TV to air GMA Pinoy shows
Wave Broadband, the new cable TV and broadband company serving the City of Cerritos, has announced that it will start airing GMA Pinoy TV on Channel 505, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, starting March 9.
Asian countries are forced to become more efficient
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — G Steel, one of Thailand’s leading steel firms, recycles all its waste water and has cut its electricity use by 38 percent over the past five years.
China will follow own path for yuan reform
BEIJING, March 12 (Reuters) — China will determine the reform path of the yuan according to its own needs and will not follow the dictates of other countries, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Saturday.
Crude oil slips back to below $ 60/barrel
NEW YORK (AP) — Crude oil prices slipped below $ 60 a barrel Friday as traders took profits ahead of the weekend, but worries about violence in Nigeria and the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran still underpinned the market.
Nokia opens handset plant in populous India
SRIPERUMBUDUR, India, March 12 (Reuters) — Top handset maker Finland’s Nokia formally opened its first Indian handset factory on Saturday in a bid to increase its stranglehold on the world’s fastest growing wireless services market.
Bonuses higher for Wall Street CEOs
NEW YORK, Mar. 12 (Reuters) — Merrill Lynch & Co. said on Friday it awarded Chief Executive Stan O’Neal $ 37 million in compensation for 2005, up 15 percent from a year earlier, while Bear Stearns Cos. said it paid Chief Executive James Cayne at least $ 28.4 million, up 8.8 percent.
New efforts launched to salvage WTO talks
LONDON, Mar.12 (Reuters) — Six of the world’s biggest trading powers launched two days of talks on Friday, making a new bid to narrow differences over a global trade deal that is running out of time.
London bourse rejects Nasdaq takeover bid
LONDON (AP) — The London Stock Exchange said that it received — and rejected — a surprise 2.4 billion pound ($ 4.2 billion) takeover approach from the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. The U.S.-based Nasdaq confirmed the offer, argued it was a good one and appeared unwilling to walk away.
Bankers eye 2006 as year of Asian LBO
HONG KONG/TOKYO, Mar. 12 (Reuters) — Asia’s booming economies, strong corporate balance sheets and attractive prices are drawing buyout houses like Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts to the region.
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