Economy

MANILA, Philippines – Five in 10 Filipinos expect their lives to get better next year, a latest survey by Pulse Asia showed. Another survey, conducted by the Social Weather Stations, showed that four in 10 Filipinos said providing livelihood programs and jobs as well as monitoring the prices of basic commodities are the primary issues…

MANILA, Philippines – Monetary authorities believe that the country’s domestic output as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) could grow in double-digit levels if the administration of President Aquino is able to put in place much needed physical infrastructure and at the same time develop human capital to pave the way for the entry…

INSTEAD of “tinkering” with labor policies to create more jobs, an expert from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (Upse) urged the Aquino administration to focus its efforts on improving the country’s anemic economic growth in order to create more employment opportunities.

I wrote this piece in July 2004 in the hope that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would listen and use it in her State-of-the-Nation Address. She didn’t, it can all be said again, with some amendments to bring it up to date and adapt it better to a new president. Let’s hope I won’t be able to…

MANILA, Philippines – Acting National Economic and Development Authority Director General Augusto Santos said Tuesday the gross domestic product was expected to grow 6.5 to seven percent this year because of additional spending that the government would undertake.

BEIJING — That warm glow and soft purring emanating from South Korea was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) trying, yet again, to put the Asian financial crisis behind it.

The Philippine economy will grow at a faster pace of 4.5 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, revising its earlier forecast of 4 percent in terms of the gross national product for 2011.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raised its forecast for exports and imports growth this year on the back of the better-than-expected expansion in the first quarter. BSP Deputy Gov. Diwa Guini-gundo told reporters that exports would likely grow by 15 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 12 percent.

THE World Bank on Wednesday raised its economic growth forecast for the Philippines starting this year until 2012, citing strong private and public spending as well as the recovery of global trade. In the latest issue of the Philippines Quarterly Update, the Washington-based lender revised upwards its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 4.4…

As in her mother, former President Corazon Aquino’s administration, President Aquino had resorted to dream targeting for the economy.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded anew yesterday the Philippines’ economic outlook for this year after the stronger-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the year.

With inflation slowing to 3.9% in June, Philippine monetary authorities are confident inflation for 2010 and next year will not go beyond its targets. I agree. But inflation should be the least of the new administration’s worries. With the global sentiment turning in favor of deficit reduction and against further stimulus, the risk of reigniting…

The President’s three prime tasks PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo has left her successor a dysfunctional state, falling global competitiveness and continuing mass poverty. Can President Benigno Aquino 3rd begin to set things right?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fears that the economic recovery is fizzling grew Thursday after the government and private sector issued weak reports on a number of fronts: Unemployment claims are up, home sales are plunging without government incentives and manufacturing growth is slowing.

Subesident-elect urged to widen cash transfers THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) will propose higher taxes, rice sufficiency, expansion of conditional cash transfer and bigger infrastructure spending to be included in the country’s economic blueprint. Augusto Santos, acting Socioeconomic Planning secretary, on Monday told reporters that Neda will submit a strategic Medium Term Philippine…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas believes that the economy has what it takes to avoid a so-called “boom-and-bust cycle,” shrugging off speculations that the rare and robust growth in the first quarter may not be sustained due to financial risks abroad.

I’ve been having an argument with a fellow economist who thinks Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did just great as president. The trouble is that he belongs to a very small minority who thinks so. Overwhelmingly, the rest decry her performance.

MANILA, Philippines – New York-based Moody’s Investors Services said yesterday that the outlook for sovereigns and banks in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines remained mostly stable despite the full impact of the global financial crisis.

First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment house of the Metrobank Group, said the second half of 2010 will be a period of economic consolidation while 2011 will lead to a full rebound of the Philippine economy.

Former Budget Secretary and now University of the Philippines professor Benjamin Diokno has insulted the university by issuing “irresponsible” criticisms over alleged misallocation of budget by the Arroyo administration, a senior faculty member of the UP School of Economics said on Monday. During a press briefing in Malacañang, professor Gonzalo Jurado, a former mentor of…

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo’s former professor in economics at the University of the Philippines has given her a grade of 1.0 for her poverty-reduction programs and 1.5 for her overall performance in steering the economy.

CAUTIOUS optimism prevailed in the consumer sector after the government raised this year’s economic targets on hopes of brisker household spending. Philippine economic managers on Tuesday revised the country’s growth target upwards following the better-than-expected expansion in the first quarter of this year.

PHILIPPINE economic managers on Tuesday revised the country’s economic growth target to a range of 5 percent to 6 percent from the earlier 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent. Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the major drivers of expansion would be consumption, investments and exports.

SINGAPORE — Wealth in Asia-Pacific grew faster than in other regions around the world in 2009, according to a new global study. The region, excluding Japan, added 22%, or US$3.1 trillion, to its coffers from the end of 2007, a study conducted by US-based business advisory firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated.

The United Nations (UN) identified eight priority areas needed to be worked on so as to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Here’s something to think about as we celebrate our Independence Day: the “trilemma” between democratic government, free markets and the processes of globalization. The notion of a “trilemma” has emerged among commentators on the evolving financial crisis in Europe. It refers to the apparently irreconcilable qualities of the three elements characterizing the modern nation-state.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank (WB) has raised its forecast for the Philippine economy, saying the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) will grow 4.4 percent in 2010, higher than its original forecast of 3.5 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – Three of every 10 registered voters expect their lives to improve in the next 12 months, results of a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

APEC MINISTERS yesterday promised to hold off on imposing trade distorting measures designed to protect local economies until 2011. This comes as protectionist pressure still remains, along with high jobless rates, despite observations of a pickup in the global economy, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers said in a joint statement released at the…

SWS poll finds 35% expect life to improve vs 9% who think otherwise LIFE IS LOOKING even rosier for Filipinos, with those expecting gains in the next 12 months far outnumbering compatriots of the opposite view, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.