The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) started its budget preparation process for next year with a Budget Forum held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Filipinos who have no access to financial institutions will now have a chance to be part of the government’s financial inclusion program after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) allowed banks to tap cash agents that include retail stores.

Raising sufficient rev­enues for tax reform to fund ambitious in­frastructure buildup of the administration rather than relying primarily on bor­rowings, is necessary to keep the budget deficit within the manageable level of 3 per­cent of GDP beginning 2017, said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) seeking to fast track the processing of applications of various housing permits, licenses and clearances such as Locational Clearance (LC), Development Permit (DP), Certificate of Registration, and License to Sell of subdivision and condominium projects.

Allow us to start off with a bold recom­mendation, and from there justify with an analysis how this year might turn out, including where the horizon might lie four years from January.

Last week, Presiden­tial Communications Office (PCO) Secre­tary Martin Andanar issued a statement blasting the media for “irresponsible” reporting on President Dute­rte’s martial law remarks.

While no blocks of ice sliding off glass walls or falling from the roof happened like they did in New York a few years ago, endangering skulls, these past weeks of heavy snowfalls in the Lower Mainland, a re­gion that includes Vancouver, car crashes and hurt limbs have marked a week of un­preparedness. As Gwen, our strata president, has said, …

AMA, the Philippines’ top IT university, declared its intent of joining the PBA. 

Chess will make its debut in the 2017 Asean Para Games to be held from Sept. 17 to 23 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

If there’s one thing the new PBA D-League season promises, it’s that there will be a new champion.