Economy

By JINKY JORGIO Southeast Asian countries pulled in a record USD 243.9 billion in foreign investment last year, as trade and investment ministers from ASEAN’s 11 member states wrapped up their annual investment meeting in Manila this week. This is the fifth year in a row the region has cleared USD 200 billion. This reflects investor confidence in Southeast Asia …

Underscoring the importance of trust, cooperation, and networking among regional partners, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. led the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security’s (EWG-MS) Joint Cooperative Activity (JCA) and Future Leaders’ Program (FLP) on September 21. Co-hosted by the Philippines and Japan as co-chairs of the ADMM-Plus EWG-MS, the JCA …

Eleven companies, one from each ASEAN member state were honored on Sept. 22  at the Ninth ASEAN Inclusive Business Forum in Pasay City for building business models that create real income for people usually left out of the formal economy: women, persons with disabilities, small farmers, and rural artisans. “After nearly nine years of this work, the focus now is …

S&P Global Ratings and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sharply downgraded their Philippine growth forecasts for this year, amid a very weak economy. Based on its latest Economic Outlook for Asia-Pacific published on Wednesday, S&P cut its Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for this year to 2.9% from 4.1%.  “We have lowered our growth forecast for 2026, reflecting …

The North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) is now targeted to be fully operational by 2033 after the Economy and Development Council approved amendments to the project, with partial operations expected to start in December 2027. The full operations of the NSCR are now targeted to start by the third quarter of 2033, later than the previous January 2032 target, after procurement …

Money from Filipino workers (OFWs) are likely to remain flat until yearend as overseas deployment slows and renewed hostilities in West Asia create more volatility and disturbances in the labor sector. The Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) expects full-year remittance growth to ease to 2% as it sees weak OFW deployment and global geopolitical woes dampening inflows. “UnionBank maintains …

Last Thursday, local  equities also posted gains, as the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) grew by 41.70 points or 0.70% to 5,958.64 while the broader All Shares index climbed 17.85 points or 0.54% to 3,318.11. A local economist said the index  closed higher as bargain hunting prevailed following the steep sell-down in the previous session. Investors took advantage of lower …

Net foreign direct investments (FDI) markedly dropped in the first six months of the year due to global uncertainties, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed on Thursday. Inflows in the January to June period totaled $3.38 billion, down 17.8 percent from the year-earlier $4.12 billion. In June alone, net FDI inflows dropped to $447 million from the …

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is cooperating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to establish a modern and data-driven tax compliance system in the Philippines. The BIR on Friday said it met with IMF experts last Sept. 4 to discuss the operational implementation of compliance risk management (CRM) and regional engagements on CRM activities across selected BIR field offices. …

The government does not impose a higher tax burden to luxury items and other nonessential goods, so says Finance Secretary Frederick Go; ergo, those consuming these commodities should pay up. With this explanation came the announcement that the  Department of Finance (DOF) is seeking to collect more from wealthy consumers through higher taxes on luxury and nonessential goods. The trouble …