The COVID-19 vaccine is just around the corner but the challenges of the first quarter must still hold our attention. The news is full of headlines on the Philippines’ budget deficit growing to a record P1.37 trillion and the debt-to-GDP ratio rising to 54.5% at the end of 2020. The increased need to address the burgeoning deficit and debt leaves the government scrambling to raise revenue. 

THE TWO chambers of the legislature will form a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) to monitor the implementation of the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Law, with its co-chairs saying that the panel will ensure that FIST incentives are not abused by parties availing of its tax-light asset-transfer rules.

THE House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries will discuss a bill this week that proposes amendments to the Usury Law that will cap interest rates for credit cards and otherwise set a prescribed range of fixed rates for various forms of lending.

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has closed an 18,000-square meter sanitary landfill in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan on Friday, after the facility failed to address its violations within the deadline set for it.

SUBSIDIES PROVIDED to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) rose 14.34% in 2020 to P230.418 billion, with close to half going to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Social Security System (SSS), which implemented a wage subsidy program designed to keep workers employed during the pandemic.

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday that it has set a target of $80 billion worth of climate financing by 2030.

Today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we continue to recognize that women’s advancement is an economic imperative for increased prosperity, stronger communities and a key factor in building a better working world. Women all over the globe continue to demonstrate their crucial role in keeping the wheels of society turning, as well as breaking down traditional gender stereotypes.

Rice import tariffs collected by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) jumped to P2.04 billion in January as it improved its valuation system for inbound...

WIDENING WORKS at Plaridel Bypass in Bulacan will be completed by the end of the month in time for an April launch, the Department...

A NEW Department of Science and Technology (DoST)-funded mobile app aims to monitor Manila Bay and its surroundings by letting citizens report environmental issues...

TUNNELING EQUIPMENT for the Kaliwa Dam is due to arrive in May, signaling the imminent resumption of work on the contentious project, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said at a televised briefing Thursday.

A FACILITY to inspect imported meat, which farmers have called critical for preventing the further spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), is expected to be completed by December at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), an agriculture department official said.