April factory output posts biggest drop in a decade
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION dropped for the fifth straight month in April, marking the steepest fall in almost a decade, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.
Tobacco tax measure makes it out of Congress
THE CONTENTIOUS proposal to further increase excise tax rates for tobacco products barely made it out of the 17th Congress after the Senate scrambled to revise the version it approved Monday night in order to make it acceptable to the House of Representatives.
Telcos ordered to allow mobile phone unlocking
TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES are now required to allow customers to unlock mobile phones starting this month, as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) released last week rules and regulations on this matter.
Bank system hacking, credit and ATM card fraud face stiffer penalties
THE SENATE has approved on third and final reading a measure imposing stiffer penalties on those who hack bank systems.
Factory activity growth recovers in May
MANUFACTURING in the country picked up in May after business for factories improved at the slowest pace in nine months in April, with the increase in new orders “the most marked in four months” on the back of a “moderate” improvement in demand that was nevertheless “the greatest since February,” according to the latest monthly survey IHS Markit conducted for Nikkei, Inc.
Recession fears grow as manufacturing shrinks in Asia
HONG KONG -- Factory activity contracted in most Asian countries last month as an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing raised fears of a global economic downturn and heaped pressure on policy makers in the region and beyond to roll out more stimulus.
Senate approves proposed tobacco tax hike
SENATORS on Monday approved on third and final reading a proposal to increase excise taxes on tobacco products to P60 by 2023, a day before the 17th Congress ends.
Outdated real property valuation seen depriving LGUs some P30.5 billion
THE FINANCE department (DoF) estimates that local government units (LGUs) have been foregoing about P30.5 billion in collections a year under the current system for updating schedules of market values (SMV) for real property tax, which has proven impractical for political reasons.
Price hikes could have steadied from Apr.
THE OVERALL RISE in prices of widely used goods likely slowed from a year ago in May though it could have steadied at April’s 16-month-low pace, according to a poll of economists late last week, even as the central bank’s estimate on Friday bared expectation that May could have paused a monthly inflation decline seen since November 2018.
PEZA approved pledges drop in first 4 months
INVESTMENT PLEDGES approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) -- the second-biggest contributor to such commitments after the Board of Investments (BoI) -- slid nearly a quarter in the first four months of the year as uncertainty mainly from the proposed alteration of tax perks made businesses stay on the sidelines and even look elsewhere for expansion.
Q4 2018 labor turnover flat from third quarter
LABOR TURNOVER in the country’s large firms steadied in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Fitch affirms Philippine debt grade but slashes growth forecast further
GLOBAL DEBT WATCHER Fitch Ratings, Inc. on Thursday affirmed the Philippines’ long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at “BBB” — still a notch above minimum investment grade — with a “stable” outlook, meaning the rating is likely to be sustained in up to two years, but further slashed its gross domestic product (GDP) projection for the country.