The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Luis Leoncio  President-elect Duterte is expected to bring in a “populist” administration whose national budget will be targeted for massive infrastructure spending, and which will aim to convert the economy from being consumption-driven to one that is led by exports and investments to generate jobs. 

Big port stakeholders are protesting the “indecent haste” at which the Bureau of Customs (BOC) sought the approval of the draft implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

An expert on cybercrime has expressed fears the criminals behind the $81-million cyberheist of the Bangladesh Bank may never be found, as the US government, through its Congress, started its own probe into the daring theft from the Federal Reserve in New York.

By Luis Leoncio Consumers remain gloomy as pessimists continue to dominate in the quarterly consumer expectation survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), with the confidence index (CI) for the second quarter sinking to a negative 6.4 percent from negative 5.7 percent in the first quarter. 

By Riza Lozada The initial public offering (IPO) of the Villar Group’s Golden Haven Memorial Park Inc. is ushering in a series of IPOs amid the strong rebound in the stock market on expectations of a stronger economy under President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

The Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. has alloted up to P10 billion in capital spending this year mainly to complete the construction of the third phase of Resorts World Manila, which includes three hotels and gaming and retail spaces.

Listed Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC) has completed the installation of new DDR4 technology-compliant manufacturing lines in its plant in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga following the renewal of its strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics Ltd.

Top telecommunications firm Globe Telecom has secured the support of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to use train stations around the metropolis to host network infrastructure, starting with the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) stations on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa).

The two businessmen at the helm of one of the economy’s most visible real-property conglomerates were not only ecstatic about the future, but also seemed genuinely smug that nothing they saw in the near horizon could change the trajectory of the economy that had seen them through their most prolific years. 

Who has recently tossed this once-derogatory phrase at somebody who tips up a chin for the native? Not since the world shrank with migration, global commerce, travel and the wonders of communication technology, could a Filipino, accuse, say, the other of that mentality—such as someone playing chic at Starbucks in skinny or ripped jeans, oversized shirt, matching half boots or …