Economy

KYOTO (Kyodo) — Labor ministers and union delegates from 38 Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern economies called Wednesday for the enhancement of employment services and social protection systems to ensure decent working conditions in a document released at the end of a three-day International Labor Organization conference.

Asia’s economic performance remains positive, but there are signs of slowing growth, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said in its latest Asia-Pacific Labour Market Update. The organisation urges Asian governments to base their strategies on job creation, social inclusion and better regional integration.

President Aquino pressed on with his verbal attacks against the Supreme Court (SC), this time blaming the judiciary for country’s worsening economy.

HONG KONG  – The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday trimmed its 2012 growth forecast for emerging East Asian economies including China, as the eurozone turmoil threatens to drag the global economy back into crisis.

I had expected the economy’s growth performance to pick up in the third quarter, and wrote so two weeks ago, a week before the official data were announced.  It turns out I was both wrong and right.

JAKARTA: Growth in Southeast Asia’s six major economies is expected to slow down through 2016, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed on Tuesday, urging them to find new growth drivers as the key US and European export markets were stuck in a crisis.

The Philippine economy registered a moderate growth of 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011, supported mainly by the growth in the services sector. Considering the 3.4 percent contraction in net primary income, the growth of the Philippine’s gross national income was slower at 1.6 percent.

PHILIPPINE economic growth fell sharply in the third quarter because of an export slowdown and the delayed implementation of the government’s public-private partnership scheme.

Growth slowed to a dismal 3.2 percent in the third quarter that returned the Philippines to its familar role as a laggard in Southeast Asia, having one of the worst economic performances in the region for the quarter and all the result of poor management of the budget.

Two meetings in the last week of heads of government happened one after the other in two distant places that also claimed the schedule of our President Aquino. One was in Hawaii and the other in Bali, Indonesia.

Joint Foreign Chambers says doing business in the Philippines is getting more costly and difficult, urges economic reforms THE Joint Foreign Chambers and local business groups on Tuesday warned President Benigno Aquino III that time is running out on the economy because doing business in the country is getting costly and difficult.

A strong fiscal position is crucial for long-term growth. It also serves as a shield against future economic crises. Countries with robust fiscal space are able to pursue countercyclical fiscal policy when warranted, spending more when the economy is contracting, and generating large surpluses when it is booming. Sadly, Mrs. Arroyo left behind a fiscal…

The World Bank (WB) cited the need for the Aquino adminis-tration to speed up public spending to strengthen the local economy’s ability to withstand external shocks mainly as a result of the debt crisis in Europe and the still weak US economy even as it said the country remained well-positioned to absorb any new financial…

Imagine this scenario:  The only child of two aging and sickly parents faces deep pressure to provide for all their needs since there are no siblings to help carry the burden.

The weaknesses of the Philippines could prove to be a strength as the crises in Europe and the US escalate. Exports as a percentage of GDP have already fallen from 51 percent in 2000 to just 35 percent last year. And only 50 percent of that is susceptible to a global downturn so what happens…

Last of two parts Ric Saludo’s colleague Verbo Bonilla contributed this column. If the P72-billion stimulus package could go some way to addressing government under-spending, other factors slowing GDP growth are tougher to cover. Aside from delays in public spending, the key immediate concerns,according to NEDA headPaderanga, are “weak industry output, and timely recovery from…

The uprisings in the Middle Eastern countries that we have been watching on television screens are real life dramas. These faraway convulsions affect our lives in ways we often are unaware of.

First of two parts The Aquino Administration has much to make up for, and they know it. Upon the release of disappointing 2nd quarter GDP figures, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad promised increased government spending in the second half of the year, “not only by accelerating existing projects but also by spending on additional projects allowed…

With a lot of promise, President Aquino III signed into law the 2011 budget on Dec. 27, 2010 — the first time in 11 years that the budget was signed into law in the same year it was submitted. The last time this happened was in 1989, on the occasion of then President Estrada’s first…

To stimulate an economy you need to create jobs, to get money into consumers’ hands, to build infrastructure that encourages businesses and farmers to get their products to the market.

Despite all the hype about the country under President Aquino’s term being open for business and his administration’s institution of a level playing field, the Philippines slipped two notches to 136th from 134th last year in the latest edition of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” survey of 183 countries.

MANILA, Philippines – The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) forecasts the Philippine economy to grow by 4.8 percent in 2012 and by 4.6 percent in 2013.

In his second year in office, President Noynoy Aquino has to make his economic programs work or his legacy will be in jeopardy. Although the economy moved forward in the first year, public investment – on which the need to raise infrastructure facilities depends – was low and unable to achieve any good stride to…

The DBS Group has lowered its 2011 growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent, mainly due to the downtrend in export earnings amid dampened global demand for electronics.

Country seen with resources to post faster growth The Asian Development Bank said the Philippines should aspire to post an economic growth of 7 to 8 percent a year, stressing that the country has the resources needed to achieve the goal.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.

At the closing of the most recent conference of Philippine businesses was the predictable presentation of a wish list for the government of P-Noy to act on.

NEWS ANALYSIS MANILA: The stimulus package of P72 billion pesos or US$1.7 billion was unveiled by President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Wednesday has been hailed but at the same time belittled by some sectors.

MANILA, Philippines – The 37th Philippine Business Conference (PBC) submitted yesterday a list of resolution submitted yesterday to President Aquino.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its forecast for the country’s growth to 4.7 percent this year and 4.9 percent next year along with other Asian economies warning in a report released yesterday that the region faces risks due to fallout from the eurozone debt crisis and a slowdown in the United States.