Finance

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MANILA, Philippines – France has removed the Philippines from its list of countries deemed to be uncooperative in investigating foreign aid fraud.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines recorded 68 index points and ranked 8th among 16 Asia-Pacific countries covered by the latest MasterCard Index of Financial Literacy.

MANILA, Philippines—One out of every five Filipinos from the middle to upper income groups claims to be an “expert” in money matters. But a global insurance giant recently found that members of these classes perform poorly in a basic financial literacy quiz.

Some P1 trillion worth of funds which are kept by the nation’s lenders with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are set to be flushed out in accordance with the latest central bank mandate to rid the special deposit account (SDA) facility of retail placements.

The central bank has once again called for reforms in its charter, saying monetary authorities need additional powers to counter the current and potential future volatility in the country’s financial markets.

VARIOUS TOOLS, such as tweaks to reserve requirements and special deposit accounts (SDA), will be reviewed by the Monetary Board when it meets today, a member of the policy-making body said yesterday.

A “CORRIDOR” framework of monetary policy will enable the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to better manage liquidity and interest rate volatility, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) representative in the country said last week.

The rising preference for Philippine sovereign liabilities reflects improved perceptions of risk, absence of liquidity pressures and low inflation, according to the latest comment of credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service.

THE FINANCIAL literacy of Filipinos has improved significantly, Citi said, with the country notching a record high in the bank’s Financial Quotient Survey last year. The Philippines scored 52.6 points out of a possible 100 in the poll, conducted late 2011 and released yesterday. This is the country’s first time to breach the halfway mark…

Large Philippine banks remain relatively stable in their lending operations, with an average non-performing loan ratio of below 3 percent in line with international standards, but some smaller banks engaged in consumer lending have bad loans as high as 60 percent of loan portfolio.

The country’s financial development ranking climbed six notches this year compared to last year but remained in the bottom rung of the region, according to Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF).

THE quality of loans of the country’s largest banks edged up at end-September as their total loan portfolio declined past their non-performing loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

THE loan quality of the country’s largest banks deteriorated at end-August from the end-July level as their soured credit exposures grew faster than their overall lending.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s foreign debt climbed 7.3 percent to $61.4 billion in the first half of the year from $57.3 billion a year ago on the back of an upward foreign exchange revaluation due to the general weakness of the dollar against major currencies, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco…

MANILA, Philippines – The non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio of universal and commercial banks continued to improve in June as the industry’s total loan portfolio outpaced the build-up in bad loans in light of the country’s improving economy, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of banks taken over by state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) went up 29 percent in the first eight months of the year as more problematic banks were ordered closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has tightened the rules of the Truth in Lending Act to increase bank transparency and disclosure practices and protect consumers. The policy-making Monetary Board, through MB Resolution 1018 dated July 7, 2011, approved the updated rules implementing the law.

MANILA, Philippines – The bad loans ratio of universal and commercial banks fell to its lowest level since the Asian financial crisis battered major economies in the region, including the Philippines, in 1997 as the industry’s total loan portfolio grew while non-performing loans declined on the back of the country’s resilient economy, the Bangko Sentral…

MANILA, Philippines – The soured loans ratio of universal and commercial banks continued to improve and is now below three percent as loans grew while non-performing loans declined on the back of the country’s resilient economy.

MANILA, Philippines – The government sold P10.3 billion worth of 91, 182 and 364-day Treasury bills (T-bills) in an auction yesterday as investors scrambled for government debt papers.

The non-performing loan ratio of universal and commercial banks to total credits fell to 2.96 percent in December, the first time it dropped below 3 percent in 13 years, Bangko Sentral said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The foreign currency denominated debt of the Philippines went up by 9.3 percent in the first nine months of last year but the country’s debt service capacity remained comfortable, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – Multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) reiterated that the local banking system remained resilient after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) managed to put in place reforms aimed at containing the effects of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Washington-based The Institute of International Finance Inc. (IIF), the world’s only global association of financial institutions, believes that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will keep its key policy rates at record lows until the middle of next year on the back of a benign inflation environment.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration aims to lower the government’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 53 percent by 2013 from the projected 58 percent ratio this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s financial system remained sound and stable amid the strong capital inflows being experienced by emerging markets including the Philippines, monetary authorities said over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – The yields of the short-dated Treasury bills (T-bills) fell across the board to new record lows yesterday as investors swarmed the last auction of government debt papers by the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) for this year.

Bank loans easier to tap in Q3 MANILA, Philippines—Local businesses found it easier to tap bank loans in what regulators said was an encouraging development that could help sustain a “respectable” growth rate for the economy.