Finance

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates went up slightly across the board at yesterday’s auction due to poor investor appetite for government debt papers following a disappointing first quarter economic growth of 0.4 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – The policy-making Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) cut policy rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent for the overnight borrowing rate and 6.25 percent for the overnight lending rate, BSP Governor Amando M. Te-tangco Jr. announced yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The bad loans of commercial and universal banks continued to drop at the end of the first quarter, falling to 3.56 percent in March from 4.52 percent in the same period last year and 3.73 percent a month earlier.

FOREIGN buying of shares of listed local companies fell sharply in the first four months this year, according to Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

MANILA, Philippines – Yields of government’s Treasury bills (T-bills) went up during yesterday’s auction but officials dismissed the slight uptick saying that these movements are insignificant.

MANILA, Philippines – The country recorded a budget surplus of P7.9 billion in April, normally the year’s biggest tax collection month, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The average rate of the 91-day Treasury bill (T-bill) dipped slightly to 4.276 percent from the previous rate of 4.287 percent at yesterday’s T-bill auction as investors’ stayed on the sidelines awaiting the release of the April inflation rate.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has agreed to give banks some regulatory relief to facilitate borrowing at a time when the economy is bracing against the impact of the global recession.

Local economy still unaffected by credit crunch MANILA, Philippines—Big Philippine banks saw a surprise downtrend in loan delinquency in the first quarter, suggesting that the local economy remained resilient so far to credit stresses that have bludgeoned financial institutions in the United States and elsewhere in the world.

MANILA, Philippines – Although still well-capitalized, the Philippine banking industry continued to experience a steady decline in its capital adequacy, with levels going down across all banking groups particularly in the rural and cooperative banking industry.

MANILA, Philippines – After the 25-point cut in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ rates last week, Treasury bill (T-bill) rates fell across the board yesterday with the benchmark 91-day rate falling to an average of 4.287 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will soon allow convenience stores, store chains and other mass retailing outlets to function as e-money agents, especially in areas not served by actual banks or automatic teller machines.

A LOWER economic growth coupled with a higher budget deficit and borrowing costs due to the global financial crisis could accelerate the vulnerability of countries like the Philippines to debt stress, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned.

MANILA, Philippines – As inflationary pressures drop this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decided yesterday to cut its policy rates by another 25 basis points, bringing the cumulative reduction to 150 basis points since December 2008.

MANILA, Philippines – Banks continued to pare down their bad loans, bringing down the proportion of non-performing loans (NPLs) to their total loan portfolio below the pre-1997 level, putting universal and commercial banks in a position of strength.

Remember the good old days, way back in 2006, when the streets were paved with credit-gold as far as the eye could see and credit cards rained from the sky? Even the credit-destitute were treated like kings by the credit card companies and courted with lavish offers of unlimited credit.

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates fell across the board during yesterday’s auction due to easing inflation concerns of market investors and a healthy appetite for government debt papers, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said yesterday.

OECD chief Angel Gurria said there were no countries left on the blacklist. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has removed all four countries from its blacklist of tax havens.

THE bad loan ratio of universal and commercial banks edged up in January this year as the amount of non-performing debt rose amid a drop in total outstanding loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said the Philippines’ inclusion in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) list of “uncooperative tax havens” is a wake-up call for officials, and called for prompt legislative action to get the country off the list.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government remains committed to comply with internationally agreed tax standards drawn up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, Malacañang said yesterday.

PARIS – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Thursday named those tax havens it said had not made any commitment to respecting international standards on exchanging tax information.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s external debt fell by $1 billion to $53.9 billion in 2008 from $54.9 billion at the end of 2007 as both the public and private sector prepaid some of their outstanding foreign obligations.

MANILA, Philippines – Lending rates have fallen to an average of 7.5 percent since the beginning of the year and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said consumers and corporate borrowers alike should take advantage of favorable borrowing conditions.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors swamped yesterday’s auction for government debt papers as market conditions continue to improve.

It takes as short as several months to as long as a year or two before prices of household commodities rise. No matter the length of time, it is a given that families have to set aside a large portion of their budget for food and other necessities. In the Philippines, there are a lot…

MANILA, Philippines – The accumulated bad loans of commercial banks continued to drop throughout 2008, ending the year with the total amount falling to 3.52 percent of the industry’s total loan portfolio.

UNIVERSAL and commercial banks registered a modest improvement in their bad loan ratio last year, dropping to its lowest since the ratio peaked in 2001, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors’ appetite for government debt papers improved as seen during yesterday’s auction.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued landmark guidelines formalizing electronic money transactions — the first of its kind of electronic innovation in the world.