Analysts’ expectations on policy rates (Aug. 18)

Source BusinessWorld

For the third year in a row, the University of the Philippines may again defer holding competitive entrance examinations, called University of the Philippines’ College Admission Test (UPCAT), because of “logistical challenges” brought about by COVID-19...

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The National Government paid P44.29 billion to service its debt in June, down by 70.51% from a year earlier, as a rise in interest payments was offset by the significant decline in amortization, preliminary data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed...

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Japanese investment firm Nomura has lowered its 2022 Philippine growth forecast, citing a "disappointing" second-quarter result and an expected second-half slowdown...

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The House of Representatives will begin on Monday an inquiry into the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) supposed approval of the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. nullified...

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The Philippines received 1.18 million foreign tourists from February 10 to August 7, four months earlier than what was projected by private tourism stakeholders...

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OCTA Research said the Covid-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) dropped by 1.1 percent from August 6 to August 12...

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The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) urged both houses of Congress to pass measures that would modernize Republic Act No. 9236, or the Metrology Act of 2003...

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The Court of Appeals has affirmed the decision issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposing a fine of P1 million and suspending billionaire businessman Roberto Ongpin and other officers of Alphaland Corporation for five years from holding positions in the board of directors after finding them administratively liable for violation of the Securities Regulation Code. The SRC provision in question prohibits fraudulent transactions involving the purchase or sale of securities...

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A lawmaker has filed a bill seeking to implement a national fertilizer and pesticide program for qualified farmers amid the spike in the prices of farm inputs...

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Tingog party-list lawmakers Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre have revived a push for a national database of convicted sexual predators, similar to existing ones in the United States, for the protection of children and other vulnerable sectors...

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Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo is pushing for a national unemployment insurance program that aims to provide aid to workers during periods of unemployment...

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Lawmakers from Camarines Sur have asked Congress to institutionalize the Philippine Abaca Industry Development Program as a companion measure to the recently enacted law declaring Catanduanes as the country’s abaca capital...

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Senator Lito Lapid has filed a bill that seeks the use of Tagalog or regional dialects on announcements, advisories, press releases, and any other information about local or national disasters or emergencies...

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A transport group is hoping that the national government will open more routes for public utility jeepney (PUJs) in Metro Manila in order to make it more convenient for both teachers and students to travel especially when full face-to-face classes resume in November...

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A lawmaker has filed a bill seeking free COVID-19 testing for jobseekers and vulnerable workers in micro, small, and medium enterprises and in the informal economy...

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Financial institutions who are not under the supervision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and that wish to function as virtual asset service providers (VASP) have only until the end of this month to submit an application, the regulator announced on Friday...

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Candidates for elective office who are considered dual citizens for being born to one Filipino parent and one foreign parent are not required to renounce their foreign citizenship and take an oath of allegiance to the Philippines to be eligible to run for office...

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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released Friday the revised suggested retail prices for basic school supplies in time for school opening on August 22...

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Arriving migrant home-based caregivers and household service workers in Taiwan and those signing new contracts with their employers are now entitled to a higher monthly minimum pay, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Sunday...

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Filipino and American troops have been training together in Palawan as part of the Pacific Partnership 2022 (PP22), the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and preparedness mission in the region...

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The Philippines and China have agreed to resume negotiations on three major railway projects, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Sunday...
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The Department of Transportation (DOTr) intends to move forward with the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), an initiative that was shelved by the previous administration...

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The South Korean government has expressed interest in the funding expansion in the infrastructure and development in the Philippines under the Marcos administration...

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Norway's ambassador said the Philippines is a potential destination for Norwegian businesses, but their interest in renewable projects here will depend on the industry’s openness to foreign investment...

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The United States government, through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Cooperative Threat Reduction (DTRA CTR) Program, held a series of meetings from July 27 to August 2 with the Philippine government to discuss current and future biological threat reduction and chemical security capacity-building initiatives in the country...

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The Japanese government has offered to the Philippines its satellite services “Himawari” for digital infrastructure needs in the development of the mobility industry, such as the promotion of electric vehicles and self-driving cars in the country...

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A “coordinated policy-framing” approach with member-economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is being eyed by the Philippines on its targeted nuclear power development, including planned deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) technologies...
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A US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, officials said, days after China held military drills around the island in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit...

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North Korea on Sunday criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his "dangerous words" after he called for the complete and verifiable denuclearization of Pyongyang during a visit to Seoul...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries will “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts,” Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday...

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Israeli air strikes on Syria killed three soldiers and wounded three others on Friday, state media said, after the latest such incident in the war-torn country...

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The risk of disaster at Europe's largest nuclear plant is "increasing every day", the mayor of the city where it is located told AFP on Sunday, after Ukraine and Russia exchanged blame for fresh shelling around the facility...

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Iran’s rulers bear responsibility for the attack against the British writer Salman Rushdie as the Islamic republic never repudiated a 1989 order issued by its founder calling for the novelist to be killed, activists and opponents charged Saturday...

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Europe's blistering summer may not be over yet but 2022 is already breaking records, with nearly 660,000 hectares ravaged since January, according to the EU's satellite monitoring service...

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Thailand and China kicked off a joint air force exercise on Sunday, the kingdom's military said, the first such drills in years following a pause forced by Covid-19...

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power station or use it as a base to shoot from that they will become a “special target” for Ukrainian forces...

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Many Californians fear the "Big One," but it might not be what you think. It's not an earthquake. And it isn't the mega drought. It's actually the exact opposite. A megaflood. A new study by Science Advances shows climate change has already doubled the chances of a disastrous flood happening in California in the next four decades. And experts say it would be unlike anything anyone alive today has ever experienced...

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Japan's economy expanded in the three months to June, official data showed Monday, after the government lifted Covid-19 curbs on businesses...

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The Marcos government should revisit the system of transferring huge funds from departments to two State agencies, as well as the ensuing de facto centralized procurement of “common” goods and services, both to reduce risk of corruption and ensure that scarce taxpayer money is being used in the most cost-efficient way possible...

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The global phenomenon of an aging population is creeping into the Philippines. The Commission on Population and Development (Popcom), citing recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), said the percentage of Filipino elderly in the population has expanded in the last two decades, rising to 8.5 percent in 2020 from 5.9 percent in 2000...

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The Department of Education (DepEd) launches today the annual Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) as it also begins operations for its Public Assistance Command Center (PACC) at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City, exactly one week before the opening of classes next Monday...

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The government is leaving it to health authorities whether the Philippines should remain under a so-called state of calamity, the presidential palace said on Thursday, amid increasing infections spurred by more contagious Omicron coronavirus subvariants...

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The Philippines may import sugar around October should the supply be depleted, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said in his vlog posted on Sunday...

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Did the officials of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) suddenly suffer from a short-term memory loss?...

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Instead of banning five Filipino language books for allegedly being “subversive,” the government should encourage people to read them, according to Tanggol Wika, a coalition of organizations and academic departments on literature and culture...

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Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday urged all government agencies to use their own administrative processes to procure items and not course these through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget Management (PS-DBM), which has been repeatedly embroiled in fund controversies...

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A member of the sugar regulatory board of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) who signed the “illegal” resolution authorizing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar in the country has resigned due to “health reasons.”...

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The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to distribute unused laptops and tablets to teachers and learners to help ease the deficiency in devices for education...

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Malacañang cleared Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez on Saturday from involvement in the questionable signing of what was considered an illegal resolution calling for the importation of sugar...

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Teresa Reyes, a 56-year-old peanut vendor from Cavite, believes that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will perform “very well” during his first 100 days as the country’s chief executive...

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The government’s chief economic planner said the Philippines must minimize its exposure in case the geopolitical situation deteriorates, with analysts citing the potential of the China-Taiwan standoff to escalate...

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How the new administration under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and the 19th Congress deals with alleged irregularities involving the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) will be an indicator of good governance and fiscal discipline, analysts said...

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As part of its efforts to ensure the safety of students and personnel once face-to-face classes become mandatory, the Department of Education (DepEd) will be requiring all schools to come up with a Covid-19 infection containment strategy...

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The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying prospects of opening up the renewable energy (RE) sector to 100 percent foreign ownership, primarily in the domain of solar and wind farm installations, for the manufacturing sector...

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The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Saturday said it will speed up the production of Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) cards, also called the National ID cards, to comply with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to issue 50 million such IDs by yearend...

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The Marcos administration will do what it can to recover the government’s initial payment of P1.9 billion for the purchase of 16 units of Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters from a Russian company...

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The Department of Health (DOH) plans to put up specialized centers for neonatal illnesses as well as heart, lung, kidney, and cancer diseases in at least seven public hospitals outside Metro Manila by 2025, according to Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer in charge of the DOH...

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The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino’s (KWF) order to ban “subversive” books in schools and public libraries is an attempt at “thought control” and a violation of freedom of expression, according to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who vowed to push for a House probe of KWF Memorandum No. 2022-0663, which banned the distribution of materials, that “incite to commit terrorism.”...

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Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel has asked Malacañang to include in the proposed 2023 national budget the extra P25 billion needed to pay for the P500 increase in the monthly pension of indigent senior citizens...

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The Secretary of Agrarian Reform ordered over the weekend the immediate subdivision of collectively titled lands to enable farmer-beneficiaries to get their own individual titles as soon as possible...

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The COVID-19 restrictions in the country may be further relaxed only when half of the eligible individuals, or about 24 million, get inoculated with first booster shots to guarantee a sufficient protection for most of the population, a top health official said on Friday...

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The country’s current supply of white onions is “tight” but a proper inventory is needed before the government could come up with its next step, a farmers' group said Sunday...

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A week before schools reopen, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said it is expecting a surge of vehicles on the road, especially along major thoroughfares like EDSA...

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The Philippines, the world’s second-biggest buyer of rice, may import a record 3.2 million metric tons (MMT) this year, driven by higher-than-expected purchases abroad, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said...

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The average cost of labor in the country shouldered by employers was only slightly over a hundred pesos per hour before the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)...

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An economist-lawmaker has said the country’s May 2022 foreign direct investment (FDI) performance indicates that the country is on course to reach another record-breaking year for foreign investments this year, but recommended a wish list to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to sustain the country’s FDI momentum...

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The Monetary Board (MB) is widely expected to again raise the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy rate at the Aug. 18 meeting, this time by 0.5 percentage point (ppt) to 3.75 percent, with the peak of inflation not yet seen...

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The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (Pcafi) said sugar prices in the domestic market should start to go down by September as milling operations begin next week...

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is widely expected to raise the benchmark rate on Thursday, with most analysts forecasting a 50-basis-point (bp) increase after inflation quickened to a near four-year high in July...

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The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it considers a downgraded investment growth target for 2022 of 6-7% to be within reach after investment approvals declined sharply in the first six months...

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Registered deaths rose 43.2% year on year to 879,429 in 2021, the second year of the pandemic, while births declined 10.7% to 1,364,739, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

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The Department of Transportation will entertain new proposals for the multibillion-peso rehabilitation and upgrade of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a top official said over the weekend...

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Oil firms will slash prices of select fuel products for the 7th straight week, the companies announced Monday...

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Share prices are seen testing three-month highs this week, which can serve as the next breakout point versus further upside potential into the 7,000 levels...

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The Cavitex C5 link flyover extension is now open to the motoring public, its operator said on Sunday...

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