By Luis Leoncio  The Philippines is seeking the support of Japan for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) proposal to raise to 40 percent from 30 percent the currency swap through an International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will be free from the multilateral agency’s lending conditions. 

State pension fund Social Security System (SSS) urged private firms to design benefit programs that will meet their workers’ needs aside from the social protection provided by state-run pension funds. 

By Riza Lozada  Metrobank Group thrift bank unit Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) reported its net income grew by nearly a fifth in the first quarter from a year ago mainly as a result of the growth in its core revenues, composed of net interest income and fee based earnings and the bank’s operational efficiency. 

The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), through its corporate social responsibility initiative, DBP Endowment for Education Program (Deep), has benefitted 3,567 poor but brilliant Filipino students nearly nine years since its inception in 2008. 

By Riza Lozada Slowing revenues from its mobile services re­sulted in telecommu­nications giant PLDT Inc. posting a core income of P5.3 billion in the first quar­ter, down 26 percent from a year ago.

LT Group Inc. (LTG) reported an unaudited attributable net income for the first quarter of 2017 amounted to P2.25 billion, flat com­pared to the P2.23 billion reported in the first quarter.

By Riza Lozada The Department of Fi­nance (DOF) warns of a higher budget deficit reaching as much as four percent of gross domestic product (GDP) that may weigh on the country’s investment grade ratings if the proposed tax reform program will not be passed on its orig­inal form.

In support of government strategy towards a more in­clusive financial system, state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) opened five new branches in the first quarter with more DBP branches set to open within the year.

Security Bank Corp. (SBC) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) of Japan jointly announced the launch of the Inter­bank Fund Management Service (IBFM).

Yuchengco-controlled uni­versal bank Rizal Commer­cial Banking Corp. posted an unaudited consolidated net income of P1 billion for the first quarter.