Economy

MANILA, Philippines—The employment outlook index has hit a historic high, with companies planning to hire additional workers in the coming quarter as they gear up for a potential rise in consumer demand that may come along with the anticipated economic recovery.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged exporters to stop complaining about the strengthening of the peso against the dollar and should instead focus on improving their competitiveness to be able to survive in the global market.

THE National Economic and  Development Authority (NEDA)  on Friday said the Philippines’ economic growth target this year would remain despite expectations of a hard hit from the El Niño phenomenon.

MANILA, Philippines – Businessmen are more optimistic that the domestic economy would recover from the worldwide economic slump this year on the back of moderate inflation, a steady stream of remittances from Filipinos abroad, election-related spending, and continued foreign investment inflows.

MANILA, Philippines – Three out of 10 Filipino adults expect their lives to improve this year, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS).

MANILA, Philippines – An economist said the record remittances sent home by Filipinos abroad has yet to result to stronger economic growth due to reduced multiplier effect as a result of benign microeconomic environment.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday it expects the economy to grow around 3.25 percent this year, slightly lower than a growth estimate it made in November, powered mainly by consumer spending.

MANILA, Philippines – Investment bank Barclays Capital sees the Philippine economy expanding at a faster pace of 4.3 percent and inflation kicking up to six percent this year on the back of election-related spending, robust private consumption, and higher investments.

For the country to catch up with its rich neighbors and for the level of poverty to be reduced, the economy would have to consistently achieve growth of from seven to eight percent a year, World Bank (WB) Philippines country director Bert Hofman said yesterday.

Last year, Professor Solita “Winnie” Monsod came out with a three-part assessment in another broadsheet of how the President did on her original BEAT THE ODDS agenda. Monsod gave the President a dismal grade of 47 out of 100.

MANILA, Philippines – After bombarding voters with his rags-to-riches story, Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. faced yesterday a critical business group to declare his commitment – and capability – to steer the country out of poverty.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite having gone through several politically-tumultuous events in the last nine years, the Arroyo administration will have a “strong finish” as far as the economy is concerned, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – International credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s has retained its stable outlook and BB- rating for the Philippines, citing the country’s strong external liquidity position and its track record of resilient economic growth.

I won’t go through the rest of the litany of the Arroyo administration’s supposed achievements. I will just talk about a few that caught my eye.

Filipinos have mostly not benefited from the country’s economic growth — equal to about 5 percent annually — during President Arroyo’s seven-year term, a top official yesterday admitted.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos can lick poverty in the Philippines, but cannot rebalance economic growth, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.

MANILA, Philippines – The worst of the global economic crisis may be over, but the Philippines still faces a rough road ahead, officials said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The government sees a subdued but steady growth for the Philippines this year with volatile oil prices and the El Niño phenomenon posing the biggest threats to the economy, an official said yesterday.

I always knew the Philippines was a magical place. I first invested here because of that—and the people.

MANILA, Philippines – Battered by the global financial turmoil and typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, the Philippine economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), grew by 0.9 percent last year, the slowest pace in 11 years, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported yesterday.

The government said the economy is expected to report a growth of between 0.7 percent to one percent for the whole of last year after an expansion in the fourth quarter of between 0.6 percent to 1.6 percent, acting National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general Augusto Santos said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The economy is estimated to have expanded from 0.7 percent to one percent last year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – New York-based Moody’s Investors Service kept the stable outlook on the Philippines despite projections that it would post the slowest economic growth in Southeast Asia this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The forthcoming elections and a global recovery from the financial crisis are supporting the growing optimisn among Filipino businessmen of a modest economic rebound this year, a survey conducted by Dun and Bradstreet Philippines Inc. showed.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will continue to spend on vulnerable sectors and monitor developments related to the global financial crisis this year, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

THE number of jobless Filipinos rose last year because of weak economic growth brought about by the global financial crisis. The National Statistics Office (NSO) said Thursday that the number of unemployed Filipinos reached 2.8 million in 2009, or an annual unemployment rate of 7.5 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank expects the Philippines to rebound from a modest 1.4-percent growth in 2009 to a considerable 3.5-percent expansion this year, the multilateral financial institution said in its latest report.

WASHINGTON — The Arroyo administration has failed to do anything substantial to liberalize the economy of the Philippines as it continues to slide from being one of Asia’s richest economies to being one of its poorest, a 2010 Index of Economic Freedom report said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines continues to suffer from weak freedom in business, investment, property rights, and even in fighting corruption. In its 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, Washington-based think tank Heritage Foundation put the country in 109th place.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Two Asian economies were declared the freest in the world, although the 16th Index of Economic Freedom showed the global recession forced many countries to intervene in their economies. The annual survey of economic freedom is prepared by the DC-based Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.