Social distancing is a phrase we have been forced to accept and practice because of COVID-19. It is, per Merriam-Webster, the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection. Under this concept, handshaking is discouraged, with other less tactile forms of greeting observed. It is the no-touch policy that prohibits hugs, squeezes, and strokes we used to warm our daily interaction.

THE PESO appreciated further against the dollar on Thursday after latest data showed the country’s unemployment rate eased in March.

YIELDS on the central bank’s term deposits slipped on Wednesday following steady April inflation data and as the peso strengthened in the past days.

STATE-RUN Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) saw its guaranteed loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) surge by sevenfold as of March from the end-2020 level after receiving the P5 billion in additional funds from the government’s second stimulus package.

THE MICROINSURANCE industry’s total premium production dropped by 14.5% last year, but the number of persons covered by these products increased at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the Insurance Commission (IC) reported on Wednesday.

CASH REMITTANCES from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as well as business process outsourcing (BPO) revenues will support the peso even as the Philippines continues to fight a surge in coronavirus infections, MUFG Global Research said on Wednesday.

BANK BOSSES are hoping to leave remote work in the past.

THE National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re) booked a net profit of P120 million last year, down by 24% year on year after low investment income offset its high earnings from underwriting.

THE PESO appreciated versus the greenback for the fifth straight day as inflation was steady in April and as the daily tally of coronavirus cases remained low.

It has been a big year for cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is worth six times what it was 12 months ago, and the joke currency Dogecoin has seen a hundredfold increase in price. A boom in “non-fungible tokens”, or NFTs — tradable tokens based on the same technology as cryptocurrency — is transforming the art market.