The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Latest talk in the political grapevine is that President Aquino is in panic. The cause of the panic is reportedly the impressive showing of vice presidential aspirant, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the former strongman. 

Local banks are likely to benefit in 2016 from the domestic economy’s good growth prospects, and the banks’ healthy capitalization and asset quality, a report of credit watchdog Standard and Poors Ratings Services (S&P) said. These factors underpin its stable outlook on the Philippines’s banking sector, S&P said in a report titled “The The Philippines’s Supportive Economy Underpins a Stable …

By Riza Lozada The Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank), the country’s biggest lender, reported a 20-percent increase in its core earnings, ending 2015 with a consolidated net income of P18.6 billion. The bank’s total resources stood at P1.8 trillion.

Two construction giants in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Oger Ltd. and Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), which employ a large number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are having problems affecting their workers that have been recurring even before the global oil-price downturn, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). 

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said a “business directed infrastructure program” is needed to address unemployment in the country. 

By Daryl Rose Virtudazo President Aquino has accepted the resignation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P11.2 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the provision and maintenance of basic education facilities, including elementary and secondary schools, technical-vocational laboratories, and water and sanitation facilities.

The remaining three packages of the multibillion Secondary National Roads Development Project in Eastern Samar province are expected to be completed by May. 

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) assailed the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) for its refusal to accept the accreditation of fully owned foreign construction companies that are willing to invest in the country.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has come up with an agricultural initiative whose impact, four years after a touch-and-go game on the intricacies of the business, has produced what could become his legacy to the country’s efforts at financial inclusion.