PH AI research center to open in September

The Philippines is expected to open its first artificial intelligence research hub in September, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said Monday. The Philippines Center for AI Research (CAIR) will be inaugurated on September 9, Pascual said at the 7th Joint Economic Briefing of the joint chambers of commerce. Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko of the Revenue Operations Group and Corporate Affaris Group also attended the briefing, while Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla delivered a video message at the event held to provide latest news on the Philippine macroeconomic outlook. The 7th joint economic briefing of the chambers of commerce briefing was organized by the European National Chambers including ECCP.

NEDA: Private sector crucial to sustained, inclusive growth 

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) emphasized the important role of the private sector in achieving sustained and inclusive economic growth. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told members of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) that the private sector is seen playing a crucial role in the current administration’s aim to steer the economy to a high growth path by generating more jobs and lifting more people out of poverty from next year until 2028. Aside from investments that will create employment, he said the private sector will also have a role in getting graduates to land jobs. Balisacan, who is also director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, said the private sector would likewise be important in pushing for the country’s infrastructure development.

Gov’t drafts rules on digital payments 

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES may be given six months to less than three years to transition to digital disbursement and collection, according to the draft rules on the government’s adoption of digital payments. The Finance department, along with other government agencies, drafted the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Executive Order (EO) No. 170, which mandates the adoption of digital payments for government disbursements and collections. Under the draft rules, all covered agencies will have to fully implement digital disbursements within six months of the effectivity date. The transition period would depend on the agency’s operational readiness and capability.

Balisacan urges bigger private sector role in employment, infrastructure

The country’s chief economist on Friday (Aug. 19) urged the private sector to play a bigger role in job creation and infrastructure development to help the economy sustain high growth. The Marcos administration aims to reduce unemployment rate to 4 to 5 percent by 2028 through higher quality jobs, alongside gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year and a more ambitious range of 6.5 to 8 percent yearly from 2023 to 2028. Balisacan, who heads the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), highlighted the private sector’s part in equipping the labor force for the jobs of tomorrow.

DTI chief prods Senate on ratifying RCEP soon

TRADE Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual has asked the Senate to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), noting that prospective investors consider the Philippines’s accession to the regional trade deal before investing in the country. The Trade chief underscored that the foreign chambers have always prodded the DTI on the country’s accession to the regional trade deal as companies under the chambers’ ambit usually take this into consideration before they make final decisions on investing in the Philippines.

House to receive proposed P5.268 trillion 2023 nat’l budget on Monday

The proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023, the government’s highest ever spending proposal, is set to be received by the House of Representatives on Monday from the Executive department. This was stated by the office of Speaker Martin Romualdez on Sunday, announcing that the National Expenditure Program (NEP) through Budget Sec. Amenah Pangandaman will be submitted to the lower chamber in a turnover ceremony at 10 a.m. at the social hall of the Speaker’s Office. The proposed budget for next year is P244 billion more than this year’s P5.024 trillion budget.

Philippines plans $3-4 billion foreign bond sales this year

THE PHILIPPINES plans to raise a further $3 billion to $4 billion from foreign bond sales this year. The Philippines is stepping up its fundraising with a local-currency bond sale aimed at retail investors set to begin this month, a debt offering that may also raise billions of dollars. While bond sales in emerging markets have dried up in the past few months, few nations have entered the market, with Mexico raising $2.2 billion from a dollar bond offering earlier this month. Philippine dollar bonds due 2032 were indicated 0.1 centavo higher at P115.58 per dollar on Friday. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. plans a record spending spree to boost the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

BSP expected to hike rate to 4.5% by end-2022

THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to remain hawkish for the rest of the year, bringing the policy rate to 4.5% by the end of the year, Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Research said. The BSP last week raised its benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points (bps), bringing it to 3.75%. Rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also hiked by 50 bps to 3.25% and 4.25%, respectively. Fitch Solutions maintained its average inflation forecast for the Philippines at 5.6% for 2022, slightly above the BSP’s revised 5.4% average inflation forecast. Headline inflation accelerated to 6.4% year on year in July, the fastest in nearly four years and exceeded the central bank’s 2-4% target band for a fourth straight month. Inflation averaged 4.7% in the first seven months. Elevated inflation will pave the way for more rate hikes by the BSP, it added.

Senate bill creates MSME stimulus contingency fund

IN a bid to fast track the recovery of the country’s economy from the pandemic, Senator Joel Villanueva believes the key lies in stimulating medium-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs). The senator stressed that MSMEs popularized locally made products in the domestic and international markets at a crucial time that the country’s economy is recovering from the crippling effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement for this year’s Made in the Philippines Product Week (August 17-23), Villanueva batted for continued support for MSMEs, reminding that local products boost local employment, stimulates the economy, and instills hometown and national pride. 

NG debt seen to swell to P14.63 trillion by yearend

THE national government’s outstanding debt is expected to further balloon to P14.63 trillion by the end of next year. This would be almost 9 percent higher than the projected debt stock level at P13.43 trillion by the end of this year, based on the documents from the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to the 19th Congress on Monday. Next year’s gross borrowings of the national government is seen to hit P2.207 trillion, of which 75 percent or P1.65 trillion will come from local sources while the remaining P553.5 billion will be generated from foreign lenders.

DOH detects 4th monkeypox case in PH

he country has detected its fourth case of monkeypox – a 25-year-old Filipino with no documented travel history to or from countries with confirmed cases of the disease. In a statement Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) said the case had a positive result for monkeypox via real time polymerase chain reaction test on Aug. 19 conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. To date, about 14 close contacts of the fourth case have been identified. The agency noted that the four confirmed monkeypox cases in the country are unrelated to each other.

President Marcos swears in new SRA, Pagcor officials

President Marcos yesterday swore in newly appointed officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) as the government stepped up efforts to address supply issues threatening to hike food and beverage prices. The President has appointed David John Thaddeus Alba as acting SRA administrator, replacing Hermenegildo Serafica, who resigned from his post. Other new appointees in the agency are Pablo Luis Azcona, who replaced Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. as representative of sugar planters, and Mitzi Mangwag, who succeeded Roland Beltran as representative of sugar millers.

PHL, Thailand agree to update tourism promotion deal 

THE Philippines and Thailand have agreed to update their tourism promotion agreement in aid of both countries’ economic recoveries. In a statement over the weekend, the Department of Tourism (DoT) said Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina G. Frasco and her Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports counterpart Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn agreed to the update on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok on Aug. 18. The cooperation agreement provides for collaboration between the Philippines and Thailand in travel facilitation, research and development, education and training, tourism initiatives, human capital development and employment generation.