THE RANKS of jobless Filipinos in April dipped from a year ago, but those working who wanted additional income increased in the same period, according to the latest government data released on Tuesday.

ECONOMIC growth likely picked up this quarter to fall within the 7-8% official full-year 2018 target, the Budget chief said on Tuesday, as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that factory output began those three months with its biggest improvement in eight years.

PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines, Inc. on Tuesday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) to develop a receiving terminal for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the country.

BLOOMBERRY Resorts Corp. looks to start construction on its casino project in Quezon City by 2019, as it targets the mass market in the north.

THE CENTRAL BANK will stick to its June 30 deadline for all banks to shift to microchip-based cards and terminals to elevate security standards.

EDUCATION technology platform Edukasyon has received funding which will help the start-up in its expansion in Visayas and Mindanao.

THE LAND BANK of the Philippines (LANDBANK) expects to ink the share purchase agreement (SPA) with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for the sale of its stake in the country’s fixed income-bourse this week.

PHILIPPINE SAVINGS Bank (PSBank) said it will raise funds through long-term negotiable certificates of time deposit (LTNCD) to expand its consumer banking segment.

THE SOUTH KOREAN government has doubled to $1 billion its official development assistance (ODA) to the Philippines for government projects, including the construction of new Cebu International Container Port, Dumaguete Airport, and project preparation facility of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Tuesday, June 5.

HAMBURG -- The Philippines’ National Food Authority (NFA) on Tuesday made final awards to five trading houses in its purchase of 250,000 tons of rice in an international tender issued on May 22, European traders said.

LAWMAKERS on Tuesday urged the government to fast-track implementation of social mitigation measures in the light of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law and rising inflation.

THE PHILIPPINES stayed second in terms of manufacturing performance in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in May, despite logging its best Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading so far for the year.