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BSP sets rules for nonbanks’ crime reporting

THE CENTRAL BANK has laid out guidelines for the reporting of crimes and its resulting losses for nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs).

Circular No. 1104 signed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno on Nov. 27 requires pawnshops, money service businesses, and nonstock savings and loan associations to file reports on crime and losses within 10 calendar days since their knowledge of the incident.

“Previously, deadline is five working days from date of the knowledge of the crime, now the reporting timeline is 10 calendar days from knowledge of the crime/incident. This is to align with the reporting deadline for banks,” BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said in a text message.

Ms. Fonacier said the 10-day deadline is not applicable to reporting of event-driven reports that are IT-related or cyber-related, which need to be reported within two hours.

“Monetary penalty is imposed for delayed submission of reports,” Ms. Fonacier said.

NBFIs need to report to the BSP crimes involving amounts of P20,000 or more, whether these are fulfilled, frustrated or attempted. Such incidents include those that result in loss or destruction of properties and pawned articles.

In filing the report, pawnshops are required to include a notarized list of lost items, police reports, and files related to the settlement of the pawned items as supporting documents.

In the event that an investigation and evaluation of the initial report is needed, a complete report should be submitted as a follow-up not later than twenty days after the conclusion of an investigation. — L.W.T. Noble

Wages seen rising 5.6% in 2021

WAGES in the Philippines are projected to increase by 5.6% next year but the uncertainty inflicted by the pandemic could cloud prospects for higher pay and bonuses, according to a survey by consulting firm Mercer.

In its Total Remuneration Survey (TRS) 2020, Mercer said Philippine companies will raise pay by an average of 5.6% in 2021. The equivalent raises for this year averaged 5.3%.

However, companies remain “cautious” after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis disrupted operations and might delay salary hikes.

“Due to the uncertainty, more than half of the companies have indicated that they will delay the increase of salaries or revise salary increment levels. With sustained pressure on businesses to keep costs down, we see that companies are taking a cautious approach with regard to salary budgets,” Mercer Career Business Leader for the Philippines Floriza Molon said in a statement.

The survey also found that variable bonuses for 2020 decreased by 16%. Ms. Molon said bonuses could fall next year because of the crisis. Some 50% of respondents said it is “too early to tell” whether bonuses will fall next year, while 14% said they expect a reduction.

“Ninety-one percent of companies provided bonuses in 2020, reflecting their strong performance in 2019. However, we foresee a decrease in bonus payouts in 2021 due to the uncertain economic environment,” she said.

The Mercer survey was conducted on 416 Philippine companies from various industries between April and June, with additional surveys conducted in July and August. — Gillian M. Cortez

BoI in talks with motorcycle firms for relocation to PHL

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) is in talks with a motorcycle engine assembly and manufacturing company for potential relocation to the Philippines as the firm considers closing down operations in its other locations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

BoI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said that the company is looking at closing down two of three ASEAN facilities, which could then be moved to the Philippines.

“Motorcycles are among the fastest growing import categories for the country, and in fact contributes — maybe it’s the third biggest contributor now to our trade deficit,” he said at the Arangkada online forum on Thursday. “The trade deficit has been with the two countries where this foreign company would be closing its factories.”

Mr. Rodolfo said the company is considering the country because of the potential reduction of nationality and export restrictions in the incentives system.

Moving factories to the Philippines to access the domestic market was previously not as enticing, he said, because firms can easily export to the country at zero duty from Thailand.

At the same event, Foundation for Economic Freedom President Calixto V. Chikiamco said that the Philippines can improve competitiveness by depreciating the peso, which he said would make export, tourism and outsourcing sectors more competitive.

“There’s a flood of imports — all of this with the strengthening of the peso. Actually, a strong peso indicates a weak economy.”

He added there should be a domestic competition policy to drive growth in a post-pandemic economy.

“Monopolies and duopolies dominate a broad swath of the economy, which makes our costs here quite expensive. So what we need is a competition policy to open up industries.”

Signals of recession and recovery

The Philippine economy’s performance in the third quarter was worse than expected. Contracting 11% year on year, the country’s gross domestic product went into negative territory for the third consecutive quarter.

Among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis is the downstream petroleum sector. Its biggest player, Petron Corp., suffered a net loss of P12 billion in the first nine months of 2020 compared with its P3.6 billion in earnings during the corresponding period last year. Based on the latest industry report, it has also lost a considerable share of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market where it used to be the dominant player.

Petron’s ranking in the LPG industry went down to third place during the third quarter, having been overtaken by Liquigaz Philippines Corp. (LPC) and South Pacific, Inc. (SPI). Compared with their 2019 market share, Petron declined by 6.2% from the July-September period vis-à-vis LPC’s 1.8% uptick and SPI’s 4.2% growth.

Locally owned SPI has come a long way since it started commercial operations in 2015. Under the leadership of founder Arnel Ty and CEO Jun Golingay, it has continuously grown in terms of sales volume by maximizing the use of its own truck fleet while maintaining three terminals in Pampanga, Batangas, and Cebu. Up against much larger players, SPI plans to construct five more terminals in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Mr. Golingay attributes SPI’s resilience to its mostly household retail clientele, while its rivals focused on industrial and commercial accounts, majority of which were temporarily closed in the early stages of the health crisis. Because of its huge storage capacity, supply was consistently stable despite worldwide quarantines and travel restrictions. Its jetty facilities made possible the delivery of refrigerated cargo from very large gas carriers, giving SPI the most competitive gas costs in the country.

In contrast, other businesses were paralyzed by the pandemic due to the series of lockdowns in many regions. But according to Petron CEO Ramon Ang, “while the oil industry continues to face major challenges, we are beginning to see signs of recovery.”  It seems the economy already bottomed out in the second quarter when the GDP plunged to -16%. As more and more businesses reopen across the nation, the outlook for 2021 has somewhat improved — signaling the start of a much-awaited reversal.

‘WE WIN AS ONE’
Taking inspiration from the theme of the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) hosted by the Philippines in December 2019, the slate of Rep. Abraham Tolentino emerged victorious in the recent election for the executive board of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). Now the dust appears to have settled on the high-profile mudslinging waged by his adversaries. The 30-22 winning score gives him a fresh four-year mandate to manage the parent organization of the country’s 54 national sports associations (NSAs).

Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who chaired the Philippine SEAG Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), recognized the crucial role played by Mr. Tolentino in the successful multisport event. “His reelection signifies the vote of confidence of the leaders of the NSAs, and we hope that the POC leadership will continue to inspire and provide our athletes with the support they need during competitions,” said Mr. Cayetano.

However, the success of Messrs. Tolentino and Cayetano in organizing the international event was met with accusations of irregularities from Phisgoc’s detractors. The POC election results should thus put to rest these allegations and give the winning ticket a clear path to implement the turnaround of the country’s sports program.

Among the winners in last week’s election was Al Panlilio, president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and incoming first vice-president of the POC. He disclosed that the Philippines has offered to host the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in February 2021 after the Gilas Pilipinas team resoundingly beat Thailand at the Bahrain “bubble” over the long weekend.

For the hastily assembled national team composed of collegiate level players who only started practicing three weeks ago, it was an amazing feat for the Gilas cadets to demolish the all-professional Thai squad twice in a row. Kudos to Mr. Panlilio along with the coaching staff headed by Jong Uichico and SBP program director Tab Baldwin.

This only goes to show that when sports officials get their acts together, our athletes not only prevail but also succeed in imbibing the Olympic values that foster patriotism and genuine sportsmanship.

 

J. Albert Gamboa is CFO of the Asian Center for Legal Excellence and chairman of FINEX Publications.

Should we hire a management consultant or trainer?

I’m the CEO of a small food processing plant. Our Operations Manager suggests that we hire a trainer to teach the workers basic principles of quality and productivity. On the other hand, the Human Resource Manager thinks it’s best to hire a consultant to assess our current operational issues. Whatever the result of the consultant’s findings, then a training program could follow to fix the employee skills gap. A fix is deemed necessary to solve the high defect rate and poor productivity, among others. Who has the better idea?  — Three Tone.

A woman had been trying for years to persuade her egotistical husband to put an end to the idea that he alone was number one. The man was obsessed with being number one.

He never stopped talking about being first in sales at the office, and first on the list for the next promotion. He enjoyed playing tennis and golf, but only when he won. He had to be first in line to buy tickets at games and first to hit the parking lot after the event. Do your two managers sound like this “egotistical husband?” Or does he sound like you or me?

There’s nothing wrong with being first in line, except when there’s an underlying issue between the two managers. But given your outline of the situation, I will not venture to speculate about any infighting. Instead, I will assume both have objective and professional reasons for making separate recommendations.

How would you decide without making it appear that one is correct and the other is wrong? What’s the win-win solution, assuming that both parties are no longer in a position to reconcile their differences? The easy and simple answer is to let the two managers solve their own problems. Require them to come up with a common recommendation.

Tell the two managers that you are confident in their ability to put forward the best consensus recommendation possible.

That way, you’ll avoid taking on the role of perpetual mediator. Talking to people to help reconcile any issues between them takes too much time and takes you away from other important things. Brief them on your expectations. You’ll be glad you did.

SOUND DECISION
Every manager knows there are many considerations underlying a sound decision. However, this can be made easier if two or more managers define a systematic approach for dealing with a work situation, in your case defects and productivity. As soon as you receive their recommendation, assess it by asking the following questions:

One, identify the problem. How were the managers able to identify it? What facts support such a claim? How much money is the company losing if the problem is not solved? Is it a recurring major issue or a one-time minor problem that can be ignored?

Two, verify the root causes. Why does the problem keep recurring? How many causes were identified? Did they use the Ishikawa Diagram or other problem-solving tools? Have they asked the Five Whys to validate the cause of the problem?

Three, gather verifiable facts and figures. Is the information current and credible? Where did they come from? Can you verify the data from independent sources, either internally or externally? How do these compare with the complaints received from customers?

Four, identify and rank all possible solutions. What are the top three solutions? Which is the number one choice of the managers? Have they taken into consideration all solutions that are inexpensive to implement? Do they understand the principle of “creativity before capital?” Why are they proposing to spend money to solve such problems?

Last, weigh the pros and cons of each solution. If they have chosen to implement a low-cost solution, what are the possible adverse effects over the long term, if any? Conversely, if they chose to spend money on a solution, do you have the budget for it? Have they considered using idle company resources in solving such problems?

These questions are not complete. You can improvise and ask your own, if only to assess the validity of your managers’ recommendation.

CONSULTANT OR TRAINER?
Without trying to pre-empt the recommendation of the two managers, it appears to me that based on the situation you’ve described, the HR manager appears to have made the right recommendation of hiring first a consultant to identify, if not validate all those issues being raised by the Operations manager. The trouble is that hiring an outsider may expose the incompetence and weakness of the Operations manager.

That could be the reason why he prefers to hire a trainer to upgrade the workers’ skills. Compared to the hiring of a consultant, the Operations manager’s recommendation, however, would take some time before your company realizes the benefits. When you hire a consultant even for a one-day engagement, he might readily identify the operational issues, assuming that he possess an objective, trained set of eyes.

Maybe the issue can be solved instantly by organizing a 5S good housekeeping audit. This is too basic for you to ignore. Avoid falling into the trap of calling for a training program that may not be needed in the first place. In fact, there are many situations that can only be resolved by challenging the status quo, without the need to hire a consultant or trainer.

But the prerequisite is to have a competent management team.

 

Send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

San Miguel to invest P3 billion in Petrogen Insurance

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is making an equity investment of P3 billion in Petrogen Insurance Corp., a wholly-owned insurance company of Petron Corp., it said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The firm’s board of directors approved the investment in a meeting on Thursday, SMC said in the regulatory filing.

“With the investment, the corporation will have a direct equity interest in Petrogen Insurance Corporation in addition to its current indirect equity interest through Petron,” the company said in a statement.

SMC added that the infusion would allow it to expand its insurance business in the country.

Petrogen Insurance, a unit of Petron, provides insurance and reinsurance, except life insurance, for sea and land; for properties, goods and merchandise; for transportation or conveyance; and against fire, earthquake, marine perils, and accidents.

Shares of its parent firm Petron inched up by 1% to close at P4.01 apiece on Thursday.

Meanwhile, SMC stocks went up by 1.5% to finish at P134.90 per share. — Angelica Y. Yang

Stuff to do (12/04/20)

Brand Aid Noche Buena

CHRISTMAS is arguably the most important holiday in the Philippines and with all the things that happened in 2020 and with so many families going hungry because of the pandemic and natural disasters, Rise Against Hunger Philippines, an international hunger relief organization, in partnership with Lazada Philippines, Dole, Unilever Philippines, Century Pacific Food, and RFM Corp., is holding an online donation drive meant to distribute noche buena packages to 100,000 families. Each noche buena package, priced at P300, is meant to feed a family of five and will be given to predetermined families by Rise Against Hunger Philippines. Those who want to donate may do so via https://pages.lazada.com.ph/wow/camp/lazada/channel/ph/brand-aid/main.

Alden Richards augmented reality concert

ALDEN Richards is set to perform in the country’s first augmented reality concert — AR Alden’s Reality: The Virtual Reality Concert — on Dec. 8 at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., and on Dec. 9 at 10 a.m.. Billed as a global event as it can be viewed across many countries, Mr. Richards’ concert is a celebration of his 10th year in the entertainment industry. He has described the concert as an intimate one where he will be talking directly to the audience while performing both songs and dances. He will be joined by rock band December Avenue. While the concert requires a VR device to fully enjoy the experience, the concert can also be viewed without one. Special VIP Tickets are already sold out but general admission tickets at P999 are still available. Buy tickets at www.gmanetwork.com/synergy.

Philippine Madrigal Singers in concert

SHANGRI-LA Plaza presents the Harmonies of Hope concert with the Philippine Madrigal Singers on Dec. 5, 5 p.m., at the mall’s Grand Atrium. One of the world’s most awarded and renowned choirs, the group, under the direction of Mark Anthony Carpio, will perform a repertoire of holiday classics, contemporary tunes, and Filipino Christmas favorites. #ShangHoliday2020 is all about Hope & Home, and the entire month is filled with performances that reflect the hopeful spirit of the holidays. The mall also safely welcomes guests with a line-up of bazaars and fairs, as well as longer hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

PETA Pay-per-view

THE PHILIPPINES Education Theater Association (PETA) is presenting six of its plays — selected for their relevance in the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic — from Dec. 4 to 6 via ktx.ph. PETA Lab Set A is composed of Maskian, a dance piece on mask-wearing throughout history until the pandemic, written and choreographed by Carlon Matobato; WFH, a Zoom-based theater piece on the struggles of employees during quarantine, written by Michelle Ngu and directed by Meann Espinosa; and Hello, a devised work about isolation amongst young people, directed by Ian Segarra and Keiko Yamaguchi, sponsored by the Japan Foundation. Meanwhile, PETA Lab Set B presents Finding Z, a play on mental health written by Jean Gladys Vicente and directed by Ian Segarra and Julio Garcia; Harinawa, a play on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, written by Michelle Ngu and directed by Lotlot Bustamante; and Second Set: 2 Meters Apart, a docu-musical about the experiences of parents, teachers, children, and frontliners during the COVID-19 pandemic, directed by Norbs Portales with music by Ada Tayao. PETA is also streaming three of its popular past productions: Liza Magtoto and Vincent De Jesus’ hit musical Care Divas, along with Vincent De Jesus’ voter’s education musical Si Juan Tamad, Ang Diyablo, at Ang Limang Milyong Boto, and, for the first time on screen, Carlos “Charley” de la Paz and Lucien Letaba’s landmark musical, 1896 – PETA’s first and only sung-through musical, which tells the story of the Philippine revolution. In addition, PETA has also shot a full-length documentary, Living Voices, directed by Dudz Teraña, that tells of its 54 years of work as one of the country’s groundbreaking theater companies. Tickets are from P220 to P120 and are available via ktx.ph.

Smart to stream 2020 MAMA live

THE 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) will be exclusively streamed online by mobile services provider Smart Communications via the GigaFest.Smart portal on Dec. 6, 5 p.m. This year’s MAMA will crown the best of the best South Korean acts in various categories, such as Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Worldwide Fans’ Choice and more. Aside from the awarding, the ceremony will also feature spectacular performances by K-Pop groups. All Smart Prepaid and Smart Postpaid subscribers can stream the show live on the go.

Silent Film Fest goes online

THE INTERNATIONAL Silent Film Festival is moving online, forgoing live music accompaniment and using original recorded scores from Filipino musicians instead. The festival, touted as Asia’s first silent film festival, will run from Dec. 4 to 6 via www.iwatchmore.com and the 10 films from four countries will only be available at specific time slots. To be shown are films from Japan, Italy, France, and Germany. Aside from the film screenings, the International Silent Film Festival will also hold a webinar on film archiving on Dec. 4, 3 p.m. Speakers will include film archiving experts from Japan, France, Italy, and Germany and will be moderated by filmmaker and archivist Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. The webinar is open to film institutions, schools, and the general public and those interested may register via https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YdJxtJSeRdyiagGXwZNQdQ?fbclid=IwAR3wocC8pBgHHetr70O8JxsHrpYXBdruqdOtxM9VVM-p6dMGcAWNY7tI0Is.

Ayala Triangle’s lights and sound show

AYALA Triangle Gardens popular Christmas lights and sounds show has gone online on the social media pages of Ayala Land, Inc. (facebook.com/officialayalaland and on Instagram as @ayalaland). The lights show was brought online by making a 360-degree video superimposed with lights and holograms. This year’s virtual digital lights and sound show was conceptualized in collaboration with Globe Studios. Production was led by filmmaker and director Quark Henares. The video is accompanied by renditions of Christmas songs by singer Reese Lansangan. One can use the AR Ayala Triangle Garden filters on Facebook and Instagram starting this week, with new filters added every week in December. There’s also a Finders Keepers contest, where one can win prizes from Grab and Shopee. Visit www.makeitmakati.com and follow MakeItMakati on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and Ayala Land, Inc. (facebook.com/officialayalaland and on Instagram as @ayalaland) for details.

How PSEi member stocks performed — December 3, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, December 3, 2020.

Peso inches up on easing unemployment

THE PESO strengthened slightly against the greenback on Thursday following the release of data showing lower unemployment as of October.

The local unit closed at P48.045 per dollar, inching up from its P48.05 finish on Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The peso started the session P48.045 versus the dollar. Its strongest showing for the day was at P48.031 while its weakest was at P48.06 against the greenback.

Dollars exchanged declined to $693.8 million from the $742.45 million on Tuesday.

The peso inched higher versus the dollar on the back of positive news on the Philippine job market, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the country’s unemployment rate stood at 8.7% as of October, representing 3.8 million jobless Filipinos. This is better than the 10% seen in July but a jump from the 4.6% logged in the same period of 2019. 

The unemployment rate stood at a record 17.7% in April, representing 7.25 million jobless Filipinos at the height of the lockdown.

Meanwhile, a trader attributed the stronger peso to market sentiment regarding the proposed US stimulus package.

“The peso strengthened after Democrats agreed to the $908-billion stimulus package proposed by Republicans despite on-going discussions on the particulars,” the trader said in an email.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a democrat, and her ally, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell, a Republican, to start engaging in negotiations using the $908-billion initiative as a foundation, Reuters reported.

For today, Mr. Ricafort expects the peso to trade between the P47.99 to P48.09 band versus the dollar, while the trader expects the local unit to move within the P47.95 to P48.15 range. — L.W.T. Noble with Reuters

Stocks climb as UK approves COVID-19 vaccine

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

SHARES ended in the green for the third consecutive day as investor optimism was propelled by latest developments on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine candidates and the country’s lower unemployment rate.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) improved 113.51 points or 1.6% to finish at 7,194.13 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index rose 51.16 points or 1.21% to close at 4,273.25.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said the market extended its rally on the back of positive news regarding a COVID-19 vaccine.

“This comes as the United Kingdom approves Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use,” Mr. Tantiangco said in a mobile phone message.

Britain approved Pfizer, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation program in history.

Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said the market rallied as investors have also been watching out for positive economic data.

“Unemployment fell to single digits at 8.7% according to the latest data. This is coming from a high of 17.7% recorded in the second quarter,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

Timson Securities, Inc. Head of Online Trading and Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said market participants have been positioning themselves in companies that they feel will perform well in the following quarters.

“Among the blue chips, index heavyweights like SM Investments Corp. (SM), SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH), and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) contributed the most to the PSEi’s upward move today,” Mr. Pangan said in a mobile phone message on Thursday.

Almost all sectoral indices ended as gainers at the PSE on Thursday, with services being the only index ending lower, going down 2.42 points or 0.15% to 1,533.68.

Financials went up 54.95 points or 3.87% to 1,473.85; holding firms increased 132.55 points or 1.8% to 7,476.08; mining and oil climbed 141.92 points or 1.65% to 8,734; industrials picked up 111.75 points or 1.21% to 9,317.16; and property rose 17.92 points or 0.49% to 3,614.2.

Value turnover on Thursday stood at P10.74 billion with some 3.65 billion issues switching hands, compared to the previous session’s P8.80 billion with 3.90 billion issues.

Advancers outpaced decliners, 121 versus 98, while 43 names ended unchanged.Net foreign selling was at P476.98 million on Thursday, up from the P282.35 million in the previous session.

“As the index draws closer to its nearest resistance at 7,200, we may have to watch closely if the index breaks out of this level before the weekend. Otherwise, closest support may be drawn at the 6,750 area,” Mr. Pangan said.

BSP sees monetary measures’ impact lagging; backs fiscal action

BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said fiscal measures could be more effective for revving up the recovery at the moment, with monetary easing undertaken during the pandemic still taking time to filter down the banking system.

In an online briefing, Mr. Diokno said bank loan rates are still not easing with the industry reluctant to risk making any major lending push, though the effects of previous monetary actions are already apparent in the government securities market.

Mr. Diokno added that the BSP is nevertheless prepared to continue with an accommodative stance.

He said fiscal programs to bolster public health, address supply-chain issues, preserving employment levels via wage subsidies, will provide a welcome boost.

“Even as BSP is prepared to implement additional policy measures, fiscal policy should play a more significant role in helping restore market confidence,” Mr. Diokno said Thursday.

“The slow adjustment in bank lending rates, together with bank risk aversion and weak loan demand, suggest that the impact of the BSP’s policy actions could take a longer time to materialize,” Mr. Diokno said.

The central bank has so far cut 200 basis points (bps) from benchmark rates this year, bringing the overnight reverse repurchase, lending, and deposit facilities to record lows of 2%, 2.5%, and 1.5%, respectively.

However, lending growth has been tepid at 2.8% as of September, the slowest in more than 13 years or since the 2.4% rise in June 2007. The BSP has found that banks imposed tighter lending standards in the second quarter to minimize bad loans.

“Bank lending rates have been slow to adjust, in part because of risk aversion and concerns on asset quality,” Mr. Diokno said.

“For instance, in exchange for a relatively easy arrangement to secure a personal loan, banks appear to prefer higher lending rates to offset risk and related operational costs,” he added.

The lower interest rate environment has had more of an impact on domestic market yields for the time being, Mr. Diokno said.

“The 91-day T-bill rate and the 3-month secondary market government securities rate have declined by 217 bps and 212 bps, respectively, relative to their corresponding rates as of end-December 2019,” Mr. Diokno said. He also cited the steady decline in the rates of the central bank’s term deposit facility, with oversubscriptions reflecting ample liquidity in the system.

On the other hand, measures designed to encourage credit support for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have gained traction, with average lending rates on microenterprise loans down 100 bps to 5.9% in June compared with pre-lockdown levels. Rates for SME loans also fell 30 bps on average to as little as 5.5%, Mr. Diokno said.

Across ASEAN, it appears that there could be scope for higher fiscal stimulus.

The Philippines’ discretionary fiscal response to the COVID-19 crisis is low compared to our measures undertaken by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, he said. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Legislators call for more stimulus with private sector gun-shy on investment

LEGISLATORS said Thursday that more stimulus is needed to help the economy recover from the pandemic, adding that only the government is capable of providing this boost with the private sector still reluctant to invest.

“The private sector will not be investing so much, I suppose next year, while you still have this uncertainty, it’s the job of the government,” Senator Ralph G. Recto said at the 9th Arangkada Philippines Forum 2020.

“That’s why I support all the stimulus measures from the House including a Bayanihan III, of additional spending of 1-2% of GDP.”

He was referring to the third round of Bayanihan stimulus measures, following the Bayanihan to Heal as One law (Bayanihan I) enacted early in the pandemic and the Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan II) months later.

AAMBIS-OWA Representative Sharon S. Garin, who chairs the House economic affairs committee, has filed a third Bayanihan bill calling for a P247-billion package, while Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo proposed to inject up to P400 billion.

Ms. Quimbo said treasury records show that the government has over a trillion pesos in undisbursed cash from the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget, which may be tapped as a source of stimulus funds.

“When Congress passed (the ARISE stimulus bill in June), I think within 24 hours, the executive said it was unfundable. At that point… perhaps that was a reasonable decision given that there was so much uncertainty,” she said at the same forum.

“But fast forward to today, knowing they have so much undisbursed funds… I think there is hope for some more aggressive spending behavior. Besides that’s the clamor of many sectors.”

Mr. Recto said the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives will meet in January to discuss the Congressional agenda over the remaining 18 months of the current government.

He said the Senate is open to measures that will ease the entry of foreign investors in retail as well as lower the minimum employment requirement to 15 from 50 for small enterprises with paid-in capital of at least $100,000.

Meanwhile, Mr. Recto said the proposal to amend the Public Service Act (PSA), or Commonwealth Act No. 146, is “a bit ticklish.”

“PSA, a bit ticklish because there are constitutional provisions that we’re looking at. Like telecommunications, is that a public utility or not? Would it still require a franchise?” he said, also noting cybersecurity concerns in opening up the industry to foreign investors. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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