Foreign investors wary of RCEP delay, Trade department says 

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) remains one of its top priorities due to the unease that failure to sign on to the trade deal has caused investors. The DTI was briefing the Senate Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Committee on its policy priorities. Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said that “most of the investors in these industry clusters will most likely come from abroad.” The priorities include industrials, manufacturing and transport; technology, media and telecommunications; health and life sciences; and modern basic needs; and measures to make the economy more resilient.

Jobless rate seen staying elevated in 2023, budget papers show

The country’s jobless rate is seen staying above prepandemic levels and could even go higher next year amid expectations that consumer prices will stay elevated for some time. Documents on the proposed P5.268-trillion 2023 national budget released showed the unemployment rate projected to inch up to 5.7-6.8 percent next year from 5.1-6.5 percent this year. Budget documents showed the jobless rate would ease to 5-5.3 percent in 2024 before rising again to 5.5-5.8 percent in 2025. The Marcos administration aims to reduce the unemployment rate to 4-5 percent by 2028 by increasing the share of salaried employees in private establishments to 53-55 percent of total from 48 percent last year.

BIR, BoC tasked to collect P3.44 trillion in 2023

THE COUNTRY’S main revenue agencies are tasked to collect P3.436 trillion in taxes and duties in 2023 to help finance the record P5.268-trillion national budget and reduce the fiscal deficit. Next year’s collection goal for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BoC) is 10.34% higher than their P3.11-trillion goal this year. This will make up 99.19% of the projected P3.464-trillion total tax revenues next year, based on the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) report. The BIR is expected to generate P2.67 trillion in revenues next year, 11.61% higher than its P2.39-trillion collection goal for 2022. This will mostly be composed of taxes on net income and profits (P1.295 trillion), taxes on domestic goods and services (P1.073 trillion), and taxes on property (P15.218 billion).

Balisacan: PH fastest growing Asean-5 economy in H1

As the fastest-growing economy in Asean-5 in the first half of 2022, the country’s chief economist expects the Philippines to sustain robust expansion for the rest of this year and throughout the Marcos administration. “The Philippines is today the best-performing economy among major Asean members. In 2021 and the first half of 2022, our economy grew the fastest, indicating that the recovery of our high-growth trajectory in the past decade has been quite robust,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. Data presented by Balisacan, who heads the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), showed that despite slower second quarter economic growth of 7.4 percent due to high consumer prices, first half gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 7.8 percent, outpacing the 6.9-percent expansion in Malaysia, 6.4 percent in Vietnam, 5.2 percent in Indonesia and 2.4 percent in Thailand.

PH budget for 2023 to focus on economic recovery - solon

The proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023, more than P244 billion compared to this year’s outlay, will focus on the country's economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, a lawmaker said. Citing the decrease in the country's COVID-19 infections, Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo said it is about time the government focuses on the economy. "The executive calls it an agenda for prosperity budget. In other words, it's an economic recovery budget, which is the kind of budget that we are expecting today," she told ANC's "Headstart".

IT-BPO firms’ WFH deal extended till March

THE information technology and business process outsourcing sector, a pillar of the economy, has gotten a reprieve of sorts in its long-running dispute with regulators on the application of hybrid work arrangements in economic zones without forfeiting locators’ incentives. IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) members were told by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) they can extend work-from-home arrangements until March 2023. 

Senate starts probe on sugar import fiasco 

The Senate on Tuesday began its probe into the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) supposed approval of the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, which President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. later denied. The investigation by the Senate blue ribbon panel was prompted by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri’s privilege speech where he claimed that kickback from sugar importation may reach up to P600 million. 

Salceda outlines RTL’s role in raising PHL productivity

The Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) law was partly responsible for increasing productivity in the country leading to higher GDP growth, according to the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means. In the 2022 midyear economic briefing of the Ateneo Center for Research and Development (ACERD), Albay Rep. Jose Sarte Salceda said the RTL, which increased rice supply in the country led to a 0.3 percentage point increase in per capita GDP growth due to productivity gains. Studies have shown that every 500 calorie increase in diets, per capita GDP increases 2 percentage points. This indicates, Salceda said, that more calories lead to higher GDP per capita. “This means the RTL did not only have a positive effect on prices but also on human welfare [in terms of] HDI [Human Development Index] because essentially we can see our rice intake from 1,000 increases 1,252. So there was indeed increased per capita intake of rice after rice certification,” Salceda said.

UK think tank: Tourism rebounds in PH, Asean amid economic reopening

Tourism in the Philippines and across the Asean has benefited from the continued reopening of economies despite lingering COVID-19 risks, UK-based think Pantheon Macroeconomics said. “The recovery in tourism in the Asean gathered pace in the second quarter, as the region moved on quickly from sharp but short outbreaks of Omicron earlier this year, ” Pantheon Macroeconomics chief emerging Asia economist Miguel Chanco noted in a report. More importantly, Chanco said, the strictest pandemic-era border restrictions had been scrapped, almost in sync, starting with the Philippines’ full reopening in February to the most recent decision by Thailand in May, scrapping mandatory on-arrival tests and quarantines for vaccinated visitors.

Digital transactions hit P8.5 billion in H1

Transactions processed by digital banks reached P8.5 billion in the first half and are seen to rise further as all entities granted licenses by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are now fully operational. BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said GoTyme Bank Corp. started its operations last Aug. 1 after receiving the certificate of authority to operate as a digital bank on July 29. The Monetary Board issued Resolution 1069 on Aug. 12, 2021 approving the application of the partnership between the Gokongwei Group and Singapore-based digital banking group Tyme to establish a digital bank.

Demographic dividend to spur growth — NEDA

THE COUNTRY must capitalize on its demographic dividend through innovations in human capital and infrastructure development to sustain economic growth, its chief economist said. Recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the working-age population, covering those 15 to 64 years old, accounts for 63.9% of Filipinos, up from the 63.3% in 2015 and 59.1% in 2000. To sustain the economy’s high-growth targets, “the government shall equip and provide our workforce with sufficient tools and infrastructure to raise productivity and enhance innovation capacity,” Mr. Balisacan said, citing the Marcos administration’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda which aims to reinvigorate job creation and reduce poverty.

New mining fiscal regime approved 

THE HOUSE Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday approved the new fiscal regime for the mining sector, as well as the fourth package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) that includes the removal of the excise tax exemption on pickup trucks. Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda, who chairs the committee, said the measure will generate an additional P37.5 billion in revenues for the government in the first full year of its implementation. In a statement, he said the committee adopted the Department of Finance (DoF) proposed version, which would “bring the country’s effective tax rate on mining (considering all taxes) to 51%, up from 38% under the current system.”

IMF to hold Article IV Consultation with the Philippines in September 

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold its Article IV Consultation with the Philippines in September, according to an official. “The 2022 Article IV Consultation mission will take place in September 2022 and we have tentatively scheduled a press briefing for September 26th,” IMF Representative to the Philippines Ragnar Gudmundsson said in an e-mail. Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds annual bilateral discussions with its members. A team from the IMF will visit the country to assess economic and financial developments, and hold meetings with government and central bank officials. The team will then present its findings for discussion to the IMF Executive Board, which represents all of IMF’s member countries. A summary of the IMF Board’s assessment is later given to the country’s government.   

DAR wants more farm-to-market roads to improve food supply flow

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said more farm-to-market roads should be built in remote areas in the country to improve the flow of food supply. In a statement, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said a memorandum was provided to its regional and provincial offices with the list of completed and ongoing bridge projects under the Tulay ng Pangulo para sa Kaunlarang Pang-agraryo (TPKP). Estrella also requested DAR field offices to submit proposed farm-to-market road projects that would connect completed bridge projects to the main roads.

BOC logs P1.6-B monthly collection surplus ahead of end-August

With less than a week to go before the end of August, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday reported that it has already exceeded its target collection for the month by PHP1.6 billion. Based on its preliminary report as of Aug. 23, the bureau said it has collected PHP60.524 billion, surpassing the PHP58.849 target collection. Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz lauded the officials and personnel of the bureau for already surpassing its target collection even before the month's end.