The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Riza Lozada The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has allowed the creation of personal management trust (PMT) accounts and relaxed the requirements for foreign loans obtained by non-banks with quasi-banking functions (NBQBs) in a move to spur more savings and investments.

HSBC Global Research, the research arm of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., said the local economy’s fundamental drivers remain solid. Commenting on the 7-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter of the year and the 6.9-percent expansion for the first half, HSBC Global Research noted that strong private consumption, supported by election campaign spending, and government …

Deposit insurance claims for the closed GSIS Family Bank (A Thrift Bank) may be filed at the PDIC Public Assistance Center, 3rd Floor, SSS Bldg., 6782 Ayala Avenue corner V.A. Rufino Street, Makati City until May 14, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) said. 

By Weng C. Ocfemia At least 30 businessmen representing various construction-related companies in China recently met with officials of the Departments of Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, and Transportation to explore the possibility of making construction-related investments in the Philippines.

Former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Marikina City Rep. Bayani Fernando have jointly initiated the passage of the Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 that’s contained in House Bill (HB) 554.

Director Marlo L. Iringan of the Department of the Interior and Local Government-Cordillera Administrative Region (DILG-CAR) awarded P108.966 million to various local government units (LGUs) for the implementation of various development projects in the region.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has named the Philippine Green Building Initiative (PGBI) as its local partner in promoting green building through the use of EDGE, IFC’s green building certification system for emerging markets. IFC made the announcement during the handover of the EDGE licensing agreement to PGBI recently at the IFC office in Taguig.

The Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP)-Philippine Domestic Construction Board (PDCB) on their partnership for the Constructors Performance Evaluation System (CPES).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) have re-scheduled the bid submission for its first Public-Private Partnership, the Regional Prison Facilities, from August 25 to November 24, 2016 at 1:00 PM. 

Second of three parts (For the first part of this column, click here) If there’s one film that can claim to be the most “unconventional” among Cinemalaya’s full-length entries this year, it would be Cenon Obispo Palomares and David R. Corpuz’s Kusina (Her Kitchen), the screenplay of which won Palomares first prize in its category at the 2006 Carlos Palanca Memorial …