Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 4357

CSC, PSC revisit plans on gov’t eligibility grant to nat’l athletes

THE CIVIL Service Commission (CSC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) have agreed to revisit plans on the possible granting of government service eligibility to national athletes who won medals in various international games.

“As the CSC welcomes the chairmanship of PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann, we also want to reiterate our support to our national athletes who achieved podium finishes for the country,” said CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada in her courtesy visit at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex last Tuesday.

Ms. Lizada added that “the current examinations for eligibility would not totally capture the skill set of our national athletes. That is why we are pushing for this special grant so that they may still be in government service after their careers and help them ensure their future.”

“We thank the CSC for this initiative in supporting the PSC’s vision of changing the lives of our national athletes for the better, whether at their current or post-sports careers,” said PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann.

The sports agency chief believes that it is good to have athletes in corporate and government institutions because of their undivided dedication and commitment to serve.

In February 2020, the CSC initially proposed this plan to the PSC, noting that the crafting of terms of this future agreement shall be derived from the existing policies of the Republic Act No. 6847 — the Philippine Sports Commission Act, and Republic Act No. 2260, also known as Civil Service Act of 1959.

Under the Civil Service Act, Sub-Professional Eligibility qualifies applicants for first level positions such as clerical, trade, and custodial service positions which require less than four years of college education.

On the other hand, Professional Eligibility, qualifies one for first and second level positions such as professional, technical, and scientific positions that require four years of college education.

PHL Facebook users uninterested in monthly subscription service — informal poll

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

Following Meta Platforms, Inc.’s announcement on Sunday that it would test a $14.99 monthly subscription service that allows users to verify their Facebook and Instagram accounts using a government ID, many Filipinos appear unenthusiastic about the feature and are unwilling to pay for it.

An informal poll set up by BusinessWorld on its Twitter page on Monday has received 59 responses as of Wednesday, indicating that 95% are unwilling to pay for Meta Verified, the subscription service which will be available for direct purchase on Instagram or Facebook in Australia and New Zealand starting later this week.

Though gradual launches in other countries are set to follow, there is yet to be news of a launch in the Philippines.

The subscription bundle for Instagram and Facebook includes a blue badge on verified accounts and extra protection against impersonation. It will be priced starting at $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 a month on Apple’s iOS system and Android. 

“I don’t understand why we have to pay for them to verify and protect our accounts. Shouldn’t it be possible for all users anyway without them profiting from it?” said Analyn B. Nance, a Facebook user who answered the poll, via Messenger. 

Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg touted Meta Verified as one of their upcoming products that aims to “empower creators to be way more productive and creative” as well as add revenue to support the technology for Meta’s large user base. 

Last month, Twitter announced that Twitter Blue will be priced at $11 per month for iOS and Android subscribers. It added this week that only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to use two-factor authentication (2FA) text messages after March 20. 

“We have seen phone-number based 2FA be used – and abused – by bad actors. Starting today, we will no longer allow accounts to enroll in the text message method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers,” the company said on Friday. 

To authenticate their Twitter log-ins at no cost, non-subscribers will have to use an authentication mobile app and a security key. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

DoST-backed program explores medicinal potential of local plants 

The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said it is supporting a program that explores local plants’ medical potential for diabetes, cancer, and inflammation.  

Led by Irene M. Villaseñor of the University of the Philippines Diliman, the health products formulation program aims to develop standardized and stable dosage forms of selected plant extracts, the department said in a statement. 

Once the formulation is completed, the project team will scale up and produce enough dosage forms with the goal of testing their safety and efficacy through pre-clinical and clinical stages.    

“Herbal medicine plays a large role in the community and is well-accepted in the rural areas,” said Executive Director Jaime C. Montoya of the DoST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. 

“Validating the use of these traditional medicinal plants through research is a step closer into bridging the gap between evidence-based research and our fellow Filipino people,” he added. 

The program has studied seventeen undisclosed plant extracts. It has also made inert formulations for eight spray-dried extracts (SDEs), or ethanolic plant extracts which are dried using a spray drying process. The SDEs are tested for their physical, phytochemical, and microbial properties, and subjected to stability testing. Those deemed stable SDEs are then used for dosage formulation and undergo standardization.  

The second phase of the program, which began in Sept. 2021, is expected to be completed in Sept. this year. It has a total funding of P65,784,206.56 from the from the DoST. 

It is under the Tuklas Lunas Program, DoST’s drug discovery and development initiative. Tuklas Lunas aims to produce medicines derived from Philippine biodiversity by leveraging on local expertise.  

The Philippine terrestrial and marine habitats contain some of the richest biodiversity of flora and fauna. About two-thirds (65%) of its over 10,000 plant species are endemic (or limited to a particular locality), according to the World Wildlife Fund, an international conservation organization. — Patricia B. Mirasol

Fighting Inflation: Non-monetary Measures

PHILIPPINE STAR/ WALTER BOLLOZOS

IN A FEB. 20 news article in BusinessWorld, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno was quoted as saying, “The monetary authorities have done their part; the Executive department, including LGUs, have to do more, be more aggressive and focused. In the fight against inflation, monetary policy is not the only game in town.”

We agree that there is basis for the statement of our finance secretary. The 14-year record January inflation rate of 8.7% is due to food (10.7%) and to transport (10.9%). Such a high inflation rate is not demand driven, meaning there was no sudden increase in demand for food or gasoline. The inflation is supply driven, meaning the supply of food (Department of Agriculture) and oil (OPEC+) has been restricted and so prices have risen.

The way to fight this type of inflation is not by raising the interest rate which seeks to lower demand, but to increase the supply or, even better, to buy or obtain the supply at a much lower price. Thus, if we follow the example of India and buy Russian oil at a discount, we could lower our price of gasoline by 30%. By the way, we are now allowed to import Russian oil so long as the price is at $60 per barrel or lower.

With respect to food, we could, as suggested by the finance secretary, import the food that is priced lower in the world market. For example, the local price of sugar is P95 compared to the world price of P25.93.

Presented in the table below are the local and world prices of selected food commodities with assumed tariff rate of 35%.

Moreover, we have already used this approach in fighting inflation. In 2018, during the Duterte Administration, due to the miscalculation of National Food Authority (NFA), the price of rice rose from P40 to as high as P50. Faced with his declining popularity, the Duterte Administration passed the Rice Tariffication Law.

This enabled the private sector to import rice by paying a 35% excise tax. The result of this law is that the price of rice is still stable at P40 while the rice farmers have received at least P10,000 each in direct cash subsidy as well as other benefits from the excise tax. (“Rice farmers receive P8.2 billion from DBP and LandBank since 2019,” BusinessWorld, June 13, 2022)

Our monetary authorities have issued a call for help from our non-monetary government agencies. Hopefully they will answer the call.

 

Dr. Victor S. Limlingan, who has PhD in Business from Harvard University, is a former professor at the Asian Institute of Management.

Moving people and cargo

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

On the railway front, it seems things are about to get worse before they get better. The government wants to deliver better railway service by 2028. But to do so, it needs to shut down the Philippine National Railways (PNR) starting this year. According to transport officials, the shutdown will allow for cheaper, faster line modernization in next five years.

Obviously, an empty house is easier to renovate than an occupied one. Residents are best moved out temporarily, to allow for faster — and thus possibly cheaper — work. On the other hand, to completely shut down the one and only heavy gauge railway operating north to south through Metro Manila — and for five years at that — will have its adverse consequences.

In building the Metro Manila Skyway, contractors found “creative” ways to go about the work without necessarily having to shut down existing tollways. The same applied to airports and seaports and light rail lines that were upgraded. In short, land, sea, and air travel were all upgraded without having to completely shut down service for five years. Can’t the government do the same for the PNR?

The Skyway was an elevated tollway built over an existing tollway, partly over the Pasig River, and partly over existing Metro Manila roads. None of the at-grade tollways or roads were completely shut down for a prolonged period to get the work done. In the case of PNR’s modernization, a new elevated track will be built also over the existing at-grade track in some parts of Metro Manila. Elevated stations will also be built.

In the interest of safety and expediency, since power and water lines located along the tracks will also have to moved, the government is opting to shut down PNR while construction is ongoing. And since the project will make use of the existing PNR “alignment” or tracks line, new land acquisition will be minimized. Even utilities relocation can be minimized.

Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez told a House hearing that PNR would have to suspend all rail services between Malabon City and Calamba for about five years to hasten by eight months the construction of the P873.62-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR). The shutdown will allow the government to quickly lay down new elevated tracks, save on land acquisition, and expedite relocation of water and power lines, and thus generate over P15 billion in savings.

The NSCR project, to be financed by Japan, includes new tracks from Pampanga to Laguna, the construction of railway viaducts and elevated train stations at Blumentritt, España, Sta. Mesa, and Paco in Manila; and new train stations from Manila to Taguig, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa onwards. The project aims to connect by 2028 the Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Malolos in Bulacan, then to Tutuban in Manila, then all the way down to Calamba in Laguna.

A tunnel will also be built to connect the North-South train line with the Metro Manila Subway. This will be under a separate contract that includes a 4.7-km underground rail and 1.7-km at-grade rail to connect the train’s FTI station to the subway’s Senate station. There will also be a subway line from the Senate to Lawton, which will then again connect the subway to the train going north.

By shutting down the PNR for five years, the government will gain eight months lead time and P15 billion in savings, Mr. Chavez said. The plan is seen as cost-effective. Anyway, PNR ridership has dwindled from a high of 50,000 daily pre-pandemic to about 20,000 to 25,000 now. Also, for the Alabang-Calamba line, the daily ridership is only about 2,000. More affected by the shutdown would be passengers to and from Tutuban, Manila and Makati, he added.

Thus, alternative modes of transportation will be offered, Mr. Chavez added. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is expected to provide for more land transport options over routes to be affected by the temporary closure. Special franchises may be issued to select buses to service the affected routes and make stops near PNR stations.

The shutdown plan is most likely backed by study, especially with Japan financing the railway project. The concern, however, is that to-be-displaced train passengers will soon find themselves back on Metro Manila roads as PUV commuters. And this also means additional buses being dispatched on roads smaller and narrower than EDSA that run parallel to the train line.

For sure, this alternative mode will further congest Metro Manila roads and create even more traffic gridlocks. In short, for Metro Manila residents, whether motorists or users of public utility vehicles, things are bound to get worse within the year. All in the hope that public transport — after five years — will improve as we open a new commuter train line and a subway system.

There is no doubt that PNR, which previously ran to northern and southern Luzon in the 1950s to the ’70s, should be fully rehabilitated to become once more an effective and efficient transport for people and cargo in and out, and within, Metro Manila. That is, if the modernization plan is pursued in earnest.

As I wrote in a previous column, in many industrialized countries, prioritizing investments in mass transit infrastructure proved crucial to ensuring economic success. The Philippines can have only so many airports and seaports. Travel in the interior, and to and from and within cities, will be best served by a combination of efficient rail systems and rapid bus systems.

Traffic and congestion, particularly in densely populated urban areas, cannot be addressed by expanding the road network or by electronic road pricing systems. Mass transit is the more efficient solution. The rehabilitation, further expansion, and modernization of the PNR is the better option, in my opinion.

But rehabilitating heavy gauge rail at ground level is fairly easier to work on than those underground or overhead. Little to no digging is required, and all stations are above ground as well, requiring only new platforms and waiting sheds plus a few other creature comforts. However, at-grade rail can be affected by flooding, unlike elevated railways.

In the end, the PNR is opting for an elevated railway, at least in some parts. And this will make the rehabilitation work more difficult, thus necessitating a shut down for five years. But my greater concern with this option is that it limits the PNR’s ability to haul cargo to and from Manila’s port area to destinations in North and South Luzon.

The importance of the PNR, to me, includes its trains’ ability to haul bulk and containerized cargo. This is crucial to a growing economy like ours. Freight rail can help take more cargo trucks off roads during peak hours. Fewer cargo trucks also lighten the “load” of roads, making their maintenance easier. Cargo trains can also run for 24 hours and do not encounter traffic or port congestion. Heavy gauge at-grade rail can take even double-stack containers — one shipping container on top of another on a rail car.

However, it is not likely for an elevated train line — as what is planned for the PNR now — to take heavy bulk and containerized cargo. Double-stack will not be an option. As such, perhaps the government can consider dividing the line into commuter and freight, with freight service perhaps going to the private sector to modernize and operate. This may mean building two rail networks running on top of one another — passengers on top, and cargo at the bottom.

If the government will opt for modernizing the railway only for passenger travel, then this may be short-sighted. It will miss the golden opportunity to build things better, and to help further improve trade and commerce and quickly grow the economy by efficiently moving not only people but cargo as well. It is time to get cargo off our roads and onto the tracks.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippine Press Council

matort@yahoo.com

One year of war against Ukraine: Acting together to ensure international law will prevail

PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — PRESIDENT.GOV.UA

FEB. 24, 2022 will forever be recalled as the day when Russia started its brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. This was and remains a case of pure aggression and a clear-cut breach of the UN Charter. This war is neither “just a European issue,” nor is it about the “West versus the rest.” It is about the kind of world we all want to live in: no one is safe in a world where the illegal use of force — by a nuclear power and permanent member of the Security Council — would somehow be “normalized.” That is why international law must be enforced everywhere to protect everyone from power politics, blackmail, and military attack.

One year on, there is a risk that people become inured to the images of war crimes and atrocities that they see — because there are so many; that the words we use start to lose their significance — because we have to repeat them so often; that we get tired and weaken our resolve — because time is passing and the task at hand is hard.

This we cannot do. Because every day, Russia keeps violating the UN charter, creating a dangerous precedent for the whole world with its imperialist policy. Every day, Russia keeps killing innocent Ukrainian women, men, and children, raining down its missiles on cities and civilian infrastructure. Every day, Russia keeps spreading lies and fabrications.

For the European Union (EU) and our partners, there is no alternative to staying the course of our “triple strategy”: supporting Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia to stop its illegal aggression and helping the rest of the world cope with the fallout.

This is what we have been doing for one year now — and successfully so. We have adopted unprecedented sanctions; cut our dependency on Russian fossil fuels; and in close collaboration with key partners reduced by 50% the energy revenues the Kremlin gets to finance its aggression. Working together, we have also mitigated the global ripple effects with food and energy prices declining, partly thanks to our Solidarity Lanes and to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

It is not enough to say that we want Ukraine to be able to defend itself — it needs the means to do so. So, for the first time ever, the EU has supplied weapons to a country under attack. Indeed, the EU is now the leading provider of military training for Ukrainian personnel so they can defend their country. We are also offering significant macro-financial and humanitarian aid to support the Ukrainian people. And we have decided to respond positively to Ukraine’s request to join the EU. Finally, we are working to ensure accountability for the war crimes that Russia has committed.

Ukraine has shown its remarkable resilience, partly thanks to this support. And Russia has grown more isolated, thanks to global sanctions and the international condemnation by the overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly. Our collective goal is and remains a democratic Ukraine that prevails; pushing out the invader, restoring its full sovereignty and, with that, restoring international legality.

Above all, we want peace in Ukraine, a comprehensive and lasting peace that is in line with the UN Charter and international law. Supporting Ukraine and working for peace go hand in hand.

If Russia’s illegal aggression were to succeed, the repercussions would spread globally. The risk of regional hotspots in Asia, such as the South and East China Seas, the Taiwan Strait, and others, to turn into open conflicts would increase. That is why Europe and its partners in the Asia Pacific have to take a joint stand. The support of many Asian countries at the UN and elsewhere for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and international law has been crucial.

But the reverse is also true: the EU is fully committed to uphold international law everywhere, not just in Ukraine. We work for peace and security around the world including in the Asia Pacific.

We need to be clear that Russia’s actions are responsible for the economic shockwaves in terms of food, energy and fertilizers. We have always exempted food and fertilizers from EU sanctions and we are monitoring any possible unintended effects.

More broadly, the Russian invasion has underlined the need for both Europe and Asia to avoid excessive dependencies. We must reinforce our collaboration to build more resilient and inclusive economies, protect our democracies, and strengthen social cohesion.

History and justice are on the side of Ukraine. But to accelerate history and achieve justice, we need to amplify our “triple strategy.” We know this is a collective task. That is why the EU is counting on all its partners to act in a spirit of joint responsibility and solidarity: to ensure that aggression fails and international law prevails.

 

Josep Borrell Fontelles is the EU high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice-president of the European Commission.

The ratings game

FREEPIK

CAN RATINGS of political performance be accomplished with a small sample size to evaluate how the leader and his agencies are doing? How are the respondents chosen? And who really checks the results?

Periodically, the media come out with the approval ratings of the incumbent leadership. These quarterly exercises, previously conducted by just two established survey companies, now with unknown ones popping up with eye-popping numbers, are intended to give a reading of the government’s performance rating and popularity.

Bad numbers (when they come out) are met with a disclaimer from some designated spokesperson — we cannot be distracted from our mission by these ratings. We are not after popularity but results. But, if the numbers are favorable, the grabbing of credit is swift — we thank the respondents for their love and affection.

But what is an approval rating?

The final number expressed in percentages is a result of subtracting negative disapprovals from positive approvals. Thus, it is called a net approval rating. The statistics are based on responses of a sample, maybe a thousand respondents, theoretically a cross-section selected to represent the population of over a hundred million. Their approval comments (we really love him and his barong) are tallied. (Each time we see him going abroad, our pulses race with wild anticipation of what he has brought home from the trip.) These positives are then adjusted downwards by the negatives. (He’s never where you expect him to be.)

Perceptions and comments are seldom based on any personal experience with the subject. (I don’t have regular breakfasts with him.) It is secondhand information based mostly on social media, including posted and reposted pieces swirling around Viber groups and tweets, like dregs in a coffee cup.

Media, both traditional and its troll-driven online counterpart, play a significant role in influencing nationwide ratings. The quarterly rating is often understood by the palace occupant as a grade for his PR apparatus and robots. The negative ratings are reduced to a case of incompetence on the part of the spin masters — the good news is not getting out there. Let’s rock them, guys.

Respondents for surveys usually base their answers on personal joys (aid benefits in the pandemic) or travails personally experienced like joblessness, scarcity of onions, rising fuel prices, and icing smeared on waiters’ faces that are somehow linked to the establishment.

Other public institutions like the legislative body and the courts are also subjected to these same amorphous perceptions as bases for scores on how they are rated. Is it surprising that the ranking of high trust and approval are bestowed on agencies with the least encounters with the public?

What if we include in the survey a non-existent bureau like “Office of Formal Weights” (OFW)? Those who haven’t heard of this fictitious agency are not going to demur from giving an opinion (NA). They are likely to give it a high rating — it never harmed me. The least intrusive agency then gets high grades. And if it does not even exist, so much the better.

Corporate organization routinely employ an annual performance review of its executives. This is supposed to guide decisions on compensation, promotions, or even exits.

A set of “deliverables” expressed in numbers and timelines are either agreed on or imposed. Numbers are objective and follows the management dictum that “what cannot be measured, cannot be managed.” They include such metrics as market share, return on investment, customer complaints, and revenue objectives. These are all expressed in numerical targets and timelines. Such unquantifiable characteristics as popularity with the rank-and-file and embrace of the corporate culture are ignored, and can even become a liability — why is he so friendly with the waiters?

The metrics are in place and verifiable. If targets are met, fine. If they are not, a variance analysis, or justification process, kicks in to finalize a rating. Excuses are usually brushed off.

What if CEOs of large corporations are subjected to quarterly approval ratings by their employees, suppliers, and shareholders? Will it be a distraction from running the company efficiently and catering to customer needs? Will this process raise the importance of internal communications?

The consent and approval of the governed forms the basis of public ratings. As in all surveys, the results can be tweaked…without any call for a recount from the respondents.

 

Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Nuclear risk seen rising as Putin pulls back from treaty

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin. — REUTERS

LONDON — The last remaining treaty that limits Russian and US nuclear weapons was already in grave peril before President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation.

Now it may be beyond repair, raising the risk of a new arms race — in parallel with the war in Ukraine — in which neither side can rely on the stable, predictable framework that successive nuclear accords have provided for more than 50 years.

Security analysts said that could hugely complicate the delicate calculus that underpins mutual deterrence between the two countries, while also spurring other powers such as China, India and Pakistan to build up their nuclear arsenals.

In a major speech almost a year after his invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Putin said Russia was not abandoning the New START treaty — the agreement signed in 2010 that limits the number of Russian and US deployed strategic nuclear warheads.

But nuclear experts noted the treaty contains no provision for either side to “suspend” its participation, as he said Moscow was doing — they only have the option to withdraw.

Mr. Putin said Russia would only resume discussion once French and British nuclear weapons were also taken into account — a condition the analysts said was a non-starter, as it was opposed by Washington and would require a complete rewriting of the treaty.

William Alberque, director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Russia had decided it could live without New START but was seeking to put the blame on Washington.

“They’ve already made the calculation the treaty will die. The effort will be to pin the actual loss on the United States,” he said in an telephone interview.

The treaty effectively limits the number of warheads per missile that either side can deploy, so its demise could instantly multiply the warhead count several times over, Mr. Alberque added.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads in total, while the United States has 5,428.

“Both sides could immediately go from 1,550 deployed strategic warheads to 4,000 — that could happen overnight,” Mr. Alberque said.

That is potentially destabilizing because it creates a “use or lose” dilemma in which dense concentrations of the opponent’s warheads present more attractive targets, he said.

‘HUGE INSTABILITY’
Mr. Putin justified the Russian move by saying it was “absurd” for the United States to demand the right to inspect Russian nuclear sites, as the treaty allows, while NATO was helping Ukraine to attack them.

He was apparently referring to what Russia says were Ukrainian strikes in December on its Engels airfield near Saratov, 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, where Russian strategic bomber planes are based. Mr. Putin said, without providing evidence, that NATO specialists had “equipped and modernized” drones to conduct the attacks.

Ukraine has followed a policy of not publicly claiming responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.

James Cameron, a post-doctoral fellow at the Oslo Nuclear Project, said that if New START was abandoned, it would mark a return to Cold War-style guesswork about the adversary’s capabilities and intentions.

“So you have a huge instability in the relationship where both sides are acting on the worst-case scenario, adding ever more elaborate systems and plans for their use, and that ultimately leads to a much more unstable situation between the two sides and also greater risk of some kind of nuclear use,” he said in a telephone interview.

Both analysts said it was concerning that Mr. Putin had flagged the possibility that Russia might resume testing of nuclear weapons, even though he said Moscow would not take that step unless Washington did so first.

They said that could pave the way for Mr. Putin to accuse Washington of conducting or preparing a test in order to justify one of his own.

If he did, it would be Moscow’s first since 1990, the year before the breakup of the USSR. Alberque noted that the United States and the Soviet Union had used nuclear tests during the Cold War “to signal to each other when they were mad”.

Mr. Cameron said any Russian test would also be seen as a rung on the ladder of escalation in Ukraine and “an attempt to signal greater readiness to use nuclear weapons” in the context of the war. In the 12 months since the invasion, Mr. Putin has repeatedly reminded the West that Russia has weapons of mass destruction and has extended its nuclear umbrella to areas of Ukraine that Moscow has seized and now claims as its territory.

In the event that New START collapsed, or the two sides failed to renew it before it expires in February 2026, it would mark the end of more than half a century of arms control pacts between the two sides, and send a signal to other existing and would-be nuclear powers.

“What would that tell the Indians and Pakistanis, what would China do?” Alberque said. “This could be much more dangerous than the Cold War because you could have many more players racing up to higher numbers, and that would be terrible for global security.” — Reuters

South Korea’s world lowest fertility rate drops again

STUDENTS wearing masks rest in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 25, 2020. — REUTERS

SEOUL — South Korea’s fertility rate dropped last year to a record low, data showed on Wednesday, in yet another grim milestone for the country with the world’s lowest number of expected children for each woman.

The average number of expected babies per South Korean woman over her reproductive life fell to 0.78 in 2022 down from 0.81 a year earlier, the official annual reading from the Statistics Korea showed.

That is the lowest among countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), which had an average rate of 1.59 in 2020, and far below 1.64 in the United States and 1.33 in Japan the same year.

The government has failed to reverse the falling birth rate despite spending billions of dollars each year on childcare subsidies.

As of 2020, South Korea was the only country among the OECD members to have a rate below 1, giving it a shrinking population.

Being married is seen as a prerequisite to having children in South Korea, but marriages are also plunging in the country amid sky-high costs of housing and education.

The nation’s capital Seoul logged the lowest birth rate of 0.59. — Reuters

German minister: Next World Bank president should be a woman

REUTERS

BERLIN — The next World Bank president should be a woman, Germany’s international development minister told Reuters in remarks that could strengthen the potential candidacy of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the American-Nigerian head of the World Trade Organization.

Svenja Schulze, a party ally of Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz, casts the vote of Germany, one of the multilateral lender’s largest shareholders, in the ballot to choose a successor to David Malpass, who steps down in June.

“As Germany’s World Bank governor I say: It is time for a woman at the head of the World Bank,” she said on Tuesday.

“The World Bank must be a pioneer in fighting poverty and global crises like climate change, biodiversity loss and pandemics.”

Mr. Malpass, a former Treasury official, was appointed by former US President Donald Trump and has been in office since April 2019. He is stepping down before the end of his term. By convention, the World Bank president is a US citizen.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, who holds dual US-Nigerian citizenship, earlier worked at the World Bank. — Reuters

Where are the tomatoes? Britain faces shortage as imports hit

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Katharina N. from Pixabay

LONDON – Britain is facing a shortage of vegetables, particularly tomatoes, after supermarket supplies were hit by disrupted harvests in southern Europe and north Africa, prompting two major grocers to limit customer purchases.

Asda, Britain‘s third largest grocer, said on Tuesday it had introduced a temporary three pack limit for purchases of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and also raspberries.

“Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa,” an Asda spokesperson said.

Rival Morrisons said it would impose a cap of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers from Wednesday.

Social media was awash with pictures of empty fruit and vegetable shelves, with tomatoes in particular short supply.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents all the major supermarkets including market leader Tesco and No. 2 Sainsbury’s, said the supply issues were industry wide.

It said difficult weather in southern Europe and northern Africa had disrupted the harvests of a range of crops.

“While disruption is expected to last a few weeks, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce,” Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food & sustainability, said.

Grocers said the situation was exacerbated by less winter production in greenhouses in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs.

Though largely self-sufficient in the summer, Britain typically imports 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of lettuces from December to March, according to BRC data.

Britain is particularly reliant on Spain, and increasingly Morocco, which earlier this month barred exports of tomatoes, onions and potatoes to West African countries to reduce domestic prices and protect exports to Europe.

Spanish producers also expressed concern.

“The situation is beginning to be worrying, as some companies are starting to have problems in meeting their clients’ schedules,” the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers’ Organisations of Almeria, Coexphal, said in a statement.

 

SNOW AND HAIL

James Bailey, executive director of upmarket supermarket Waitrose, said extreme weather rather than Brexit was to blame.

“It’s been snowing and hailing in Spain, it was hailing in North Africa last week – that is wiping out a large proportion of those crops,” he told LBC radio.

“Give it about a fortnight and the other growing seasons in other parts of the world will have caught up and we should be able to get that supply back in.”

A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer said the group was not immune from the supply issues but had mitigated by sourcing from alternative growing markets.

Last year Britain‘s grocers suffered supply disruptions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but availability improved before Christmas, except for eggs.

Other European countries appear less impacted than Britain, with German wholesaler Metro saying it was unaffected. – Reuters

To raise prices or not? Consumer goods makers weigh bets while retailers fret

STOCK PHOTO | Image by THAM YUAN YUAN from Pixabay

Prices of everyday basics like Bounty paper towels and Cadbury chocolate may rise again this year while those of others like Clorox Co. wipes and Diet Pepsi are likely to remain steady, as manufacturers make differing bets on the strength of the consumer and their brands.

Goods makers’ strategies on further price hikes depends on their leverage with retailers such as Walmart Inc. and Tesco plc, who are pushing back against more increases in an uncertain economic environment.

Once-in-a-generation levels of inflation, stemming from pandemic supply chain snarls, government stimulus and the Ukraine war, have pinched shoppers’ pocketbooks globally.

The decision by companies to boost prices is hitting demand at big-box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot, both of which said Tuesday that inflation will result in worse earnings results for 2023 than previously expected.

In Britain, consumers paid 16.7% more for food in the month to Jan. 22 compared to the same period last year, while US prices for food eaten at and away from home rose 10.1% in the 12 months ended in January.

There are small signs the pressure is easing, with US consumer prices a month earlier declining for the first time in two-and-a-half years, due in part to gas prices.

“While the supply chain issues have largely abated, prices are still high,” said John Rainey, Walmart chief financial officer, during a call with analysts Tuesday. “There is considerable pressure on the consumer.”

As the “tide is turning a little bit,” some retailers are also now asking suppliers for “rollbacks” as the cost of fuel, for example, falls, another factor driving companies’ decisions, said KPMG consultant Sunder Ramakrishnan.

“The retailer would drop the shelf price, because manufacturers agree to sell it for less to the retailer,” Ramakrishnan said. “It’s been a fairly recent phenomenon. Not a lot of manufacturers are willing to volunteer to cut price.”

The cost of cardboard cases has decreased by as much as 50%, and transportation costs have plummeted as well, by 25-30%, Reuters reported last week. Some plastics and chemicals used in household goods have risen, executives have said, and labor remains costly.

“I’m frustrated by pricing,” General Mills Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Harmening said Tuesday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York’s conference in Boca Raton, Florida. “I’m sure our customers are too. I’m sure consumers are too, but that’s the environment that we’re living in.”

 

DIFFERENT PREDICTIONS

After more than a year of consistent price hikes, some consumer goods makers such as Kraft Mac & Cheese manufacturer Kraft Heinz Co are pressing pause as they weigh consumer demand for their items.

Kraft’s prices went up 13.2 percentage points in 2022 over the prior year, according to financial disclosures. Kroger Co is promoting a 20-ounce bottle of Heinz ketchup for $2.49 – below the $3.18 average price per unit of the condiment according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm.

Kraft-Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio said last week that private label, or store brands, are gaining market share, mainly from the company’s competitors.

It’s riskier for national brands to hike prices on products where consumers are increasingly buying store brand items, such as grocery and baby products, according to market research firm Numerator.

But other companies like Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food company, continue to plan price hikes in the future to recoup margins squeezed by high labor and fuel costs, a whiplash for consumers aiming to make sense of their household expenses.

Prices on Nestle’s products including Coffee Mate creamers already rose 8.2% last year, with an 11.75 ounce package of its Stouffer’s French bread pizza selling for $3.48 at Walmart. Frozen pizza prices have risen about 14% in the last year, according to IRI data.

“Consumer sensitivity to prices is going up, even in the last couple months,” said Mark Hosbein, an executive at consulting firm Magid.

Magid’s data from surveys shows that consumers are spending dramatically more on groceries, rent and gas, forcing them to cut back on savings and eat out less. Magid’s data also shows shoppers are opting for cheaper items.

 

BIG BRANDS DIFFER

Brands that retailers and consumers see “core” or “very strong” in their segment also have more pricing power, Ramakrishnan said, because they help build sales for chains.

Coca-Cola Co’s CEO James Quincey, for example, said on Tuesday the company had “earned the right” to push price hikes on to consumers because its classic Coke and Fanta sodas lead the beverage category.

Executives at Bounty maker Procter & Gamble said the company was confident the US consumer “is going to hold up well” over the next few quarters, and planning more increases. A 16-ounce bottle of P&G’s Dawn Powerwash dish soap costs $5.99 on Target.com, after debuting at $4.99 about three years ago according to media reports.

“Retailers cannot truly push back on prices … if the company has an important brand,” Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said.

The average prices consumers are paying for Kraft-Heinz and PepsiCo Inc. products have risen faster than Nestle’s, another reason why both Kraft-Heinz and PepsiCo may be holding off on hikes for now.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta has said he expects shoppers to become more price-sensitive later in the year due to fears of a recession in the United States, its major market. – Reuters

1...4,3564,3574,358...13,371Page 4,357 of 13,371
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube