Business

By Riza Lozada Traders expect the stock index to test the 9,400 level this year as a result of a positive economic outlook which will fuel corporate earnings, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, said.

Telecoms and digital services provider Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications (PLDT) and its mobile unit Smart Communications have signed a $28.5 million partnership with Chinese Huawei Technologies to improve the delivery of wireless services to its customers.

The Villar group of companies is allotting P175 billion in capital expenditures for the next three years, as it continues to grow its various businesses on the back of a strong economy.

Close to 100,000 Aklanons in three municipalities now have access to better health services as a result of a corporate citizenship initiative of the country’s largest bank.

By Riza Lozada The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will speed up the streamlining of processes for the documentary requirements of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) renewing business permits following the congressional approval and implementation of the first package of the tax reform law.

Regulator Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp (PDIC) earned P34.5 million from the sale of 18 corporate and closed banks’ properties during a recent public bidding at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – Cebu Regional Office.

The operations of the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) which will target some 10 million Filipinos working overseas will likely start in February after policy-making Monetary Board (MB) approved the Land Bank of the Philippines’ (Landbank) recent acquisition of the thrift bank.

State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) seeks to expand its presence in the retail banking segment by targeting one million new depositors in the next five years, DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia Borromeo said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is confident of within-target inflation in the near term after the December 2017 inflation was steady at 3.3 percent, bringing the average rate this year to 3.2 percent.

By Riza Lozada Cement manufacturers were urged to take the initiative in going green and undertaking sustainable operations.