THE peso recovered on Friday as market players reacted to a lower-than-expected inflation reading for September, which helped ease negative sentiment towards the local currency.

METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) has raised P8.68 billion from the first tranche of its P25-billion long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD) program meant to diversify its funding sources.

BIG BANKS again failed to comply with required lending to the farming sector in June, which came at a time of robust asset growth, latest central bank data showed.

AT THE BAIPHIL 3^rd General Membership Meeting, corporate governance “guru” and guest speaker Dr. Jesus Estanislao emphasized that governance demands a focus on the long-term, realizing a great “vision” in five to ten years. Governance demands a focus on the institution and what the institution should become. Yes, people are very important, but cautioned against personalities. He said governance asks for a strategy, a set of priorities pursued across all the different facets of any business. The key focus is on priorities which must be inter-connected and mutually supportive.

THE PESO weakened on Thursday as the dollar strengthened on the back of a jump in US Treasury yields.

BANKS scrambled to get hold of term deposits offered by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday, with the auction marked by overwhelming bids as the central bank accepted higher yields following a strong rate hike last week.

FEDERAL RESERVE Chairman Jerome Powell welcomed recent increases in Americans’ wages while expressing confidence that low unemployment won’t spur a takeoff in prices that would force him to hike interest rates aggressively.

THE PESO went up against the dollar on Wednesday as it consolidated ahead of the inflation data release on Friday.

XURPAS, Inc. is forming a new subsidiary that will focus on remittances, money transfers and operate as a virtual currency exchange (VCE).

IRAN is developing a range of new financial products, from Islamic bonds to warrants and insurance-linked securities, in an effort to give local firms more funding options as sanctions put pressure on the economy.

THE PESO weakened further against the dollar on Tuesday as investors continued to price in a likely faster September inflation print.

THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the Treasury bills (T-bill) it auctioned off yesterday, with demand skewed towards the longer tenor due to elevated inflation bets for the month of September.