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LONDON -- The world economy may be the rockiest it’s been since the financial crisis, yet there are reasons to expect the current slowdown will prove short-lived.

STATE ECONOMIC MANAGERS on Wednesday slashed gross domestic product (GDP) expansion targets for this year and 2020, citing 2019 constraints from the delayed enactment of the national budget that will make it “very difficult” to catch up with spending which, in turn, could even push growth to an eight-year low.

LEADERS of the Senate and of the House of Representatives failed to mend their differences over the ratified P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 during a meeting with President Rodrigo R. Duterte in Malacañang on Tuesday evening.

A SLIGHT ANNUAL PICKUP of automobile sales in February was unable to send year-to-date performance into positive territory, according to latest joint data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association that were e-mailed to journalists on Monday.

NEWLY APPOINTED Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno is looking to cut the “very high” reserve standard for banks in four successive moves this year, even as he noted that local infrastructure projects remain well-funded even without injecting fresh liquidity.

THE COUNTRY’s trade-in-goods deficit widened in January as exports declined and imports rebounded.

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has published draft rules on availing of the tax amnesty for delinquencies in specific cases, which will give eligible taxpayers one year to settle all outstanding payments and avoid tax evasion cases.

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) net inflows this year will likely match 2018’s level, two senior central bank officials said, citing the May 13 midterm polls and rollout of more infrastructure projects as factors prospective investors will be watching.

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) net inflows fell short of expectation last year after five straight months of decline from 2017 amid rising prices and jitters due to planned changes to tax perks.

MALACAÑANG on Monday said President Rodrigo R. Duterte was ready to veto questionable provisions in the P3.757-trillion national budget for this year, even as it hoped both chambers of Congress would resolve their differences soon.

NEW DELHI -- Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday it would be too early to change OPEC+ output policy at the group’s meeting in April and that China and the US would lead healthy global demand for oil this year.

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH will pitch a fresh proposal to the next Congress to lift foreign ownership limits under the 1987 Constitution, the head of the Finance department told reporters last week.