MANILA – The completion of the planned merger between the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.This is a slight delay compared... Read More
MANILA – The government will likely proceed with its retail dollar bond sale this quarter, the Bureau of Treasury said.The government was originally planning to issue the retail dollar bond offer last year."We are doing all the marketing now. If markets are favorable, [issuance is] September.... Read More
MANILA – Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said outstanding debt may exceed the PHP14.63 trillion assumption but debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio remains to be manageable.In his weekly press briefing, Diokno said that the right metric for assessing debt is its proportion to economic... Read More
MANILA – A merchant marine industry insider said efforts are underway to upgrade the curriculum of local maritime academies amid fears that tens of thousands of Filipino seafarers will lose their jobs if they fall short of certain international standards.In an interview on Sunday, Julius... Read More
MANILA – SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said it recently shipped more than 36,000 metric tons of steel bars which will be used in infrastructure construction in Canada.In a statement over the weekend, SteelAsia said the latest shipment is SteelAsia’s fifth export, bringing the total value... Read More
MANILA – The rates of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) securities rose on Friday as demand remains strong both for the 28-day and 56-day tenors.Data released by the central bank showed that the average rate of the shorter-dated BSP bill increased to 6.6619 percent, from 6.6562... Read More
MANILA – Anticipations for another hike in the Federal Reserve’s key rates following indications that the US labor market remains firm resulted in the negative close of the local bourse’s main index as well as the peso on Friday.The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped... Read More
MANILA – The Department of Finance (DOF) on Friday welcomed the endorsement of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) of five key fiscal and economic reforms proposed by the department for legislative approval within the year.The LEDAC serves as a consultative and... Read More
MANILA — Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Friday said the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the bill creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) is expected to be completed soon."The crafting of the IRR started right after the approval of the MIF bill. It’s... Read More
MANILA – An official of the Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday said the El Niño phenomenon is not expected to have major impact on the country’s power sector for the rest of the year as it is offset by lower power demand.During the Laging Handa briefing, DOE Undersecretary... Read More
MANILA – Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the Marcos administration has done “very well” during the first year of term.Ortiz-Luis told the Philippine News Agency on Wednesday that the administration of President Ferdinand R.... Read More
MANILA – Manufacturing output both in volume and value continued to grow at a faster pace in May, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.Results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries released on Friday showed that the value of production index (VaPi) grew by 10.3... Read More
MANILA – The country's unemployment rate further dropped to 4.3 percent in May this year from 6 percent a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.In a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said preliminary results of the May 2023 Labor Force Survey (LFS)... Read More
MANILA – Data cloud company Snowflake said companies in the Philippines are now more open to using cloud-computing technology, noting the rising demand for cloud-based storage and analytics services.“Customers are more eager to adopt cloud. They are also becoming more... Read More
ANTIPOLO CITY – The decision of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to cut water allocation coming from Angat Dam down to 50 cubic meters per second from 52 CMS would not affect the operations of the east zone concessionaire Manila Water.In an interview, Dittie Galang, Manila... Read More
MANILA – Both local stocks and the peso closed Thursday with losses after the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) unanimous decision to pause interest rate hikes.The local bourse benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the day’s trading at 6,474.26, shedding 38.13... Read More
MANILA – The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) has welcomed the proposal of the European Commission to extend the European Union (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) regulation for another four years until 2027.“The ECCP welcomes the proposal of the European... Read More
MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday said an overnight (ON) rate will be published on its website to serve as a market reference amid the cessation of the global use of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).In a statement on Thursday, the central bank said the... Read More
MANILA – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it provided technical assistance to the Philippines' first Gender Bond issued by ASA Philippines Foundation Inc.In a statement on Thursday, ADB said it provided technical assistance to support bond framework development and capacity building... Read More
MANILA – The total monetary value of Class A gold, copper, nickel, and chromite reserves went up by 22 percent last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.In a report on Thursday, the PSA said the total monetary value of Class A gold, copper, nickel and chromite reserves amounted... Read More
The Philippine News Agency is a web-based newswire service of the Philippine government under the supervision of the News and Information Bureau (NIB) of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).