ECCP at Work

NEDA: PPP helps achieve inclusive, sustained growth

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) play a critical role in helping the government achieve inclusive and sustained economic growth. At the meeting of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said that through PPPs, the government can tap the private sector’s capacity to provide resources and expertise. And with the government’s fiscal constraints due to the prolonged pandemic, Balisacan said the private sector also has the ability to undertake projects of significant scale. “We recognize the potential of PPPs to upgrade the country’s infrastructure, boost the competitiveness of domestic industries, and encourage investments in various sectors that will result in lower prices and improved quality of goods and services,” Balisacan said.

Foreign chambers laud RA 11904

The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) welcomed the recent enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11904, or the "Philippine Creative Industries Development Act," which lapsed into law last July 28. "It recognizes creative industries as a distinct sector in the traditional sense of an industry cluster and reaffirms the importance and natural competitive edge of Filipino creative talent. By establishing a Philippine Creative Industry Development Council mandated to both formulate and implement the Philippine Creative Industries Development Plan, the country will be better equipped to reap the economic and employment benefits from the diverse creative talents of Filipinos organized under the nine creative industry 'domains' identified in the law," the JFC added.

‘PHL needs to sustain investments impetus’

Rep. Salceda has said the country’s May 2022 foreign direct investment (FDI) performance indicates that the country is on course to reach another record-breaking year for foreign investments this year, but recommended a wish list to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to sustain the country’s FDI momentum. “The agenda for [Marcos], which I will wholeheartedly support him in, is one, to complete a comprehensive strategic investment priorities plan, with viable plans for using tax and non-tax support to promising sectors,” Salceda said. Second, Salceda said that Marcos has to resolve the leadership issue involving the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza), “as soon as possible.” THIRD, Salceda has strongly recommended that the President release a framework of priority public-private partnership areas for his administration.

Nomura cuts Philippines GDP growth to 6.3% 

Japan’s Nomura has slashed its 2022 gross domestic product growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.3 percent from the original target of 6.6 percent amid the expected further GDP slowdown in the second half. Nomura’s latest growth forecast is now lower than the revised 6.5 to 7.5 percent target penned by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). “Taking the disappointing second quarter outturn into account, we cut our 2022 GDP growth forecast further to 6.3 percent from 6.6 percent earlier, now below the government’s latest forecast range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent,” Nomura’s Euben Paracuelles and Rangga Cipta said.

PEZA sees 6-7% investment growth goal remaining within reach this year

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it considers a downgraded investment growth target for 2022 of 6-7% to be within reach after investment approvals declined sharply in the first six months. “We are bullish still that we can achieve our targeted 6% to 7% increase for this year,” PEZA Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Tereso O. Panga told  BusinessWorld via Viber. “With the assumption of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., we hope to bounce back by third quarter this year to exceed our investment approvals (in the April-June quarter,” he added. According to Mr. Panga, PEZA considers the 6% to 7% target to now be the “official” target which “we submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).” The previous growth target for approved investments, announced in April, was 7-8%.

NEDA aims to release new PDP before December

THE NATIONAL Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is working to fast-track the submission of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028 before its deadline in December, an official said. “We’ll see how we can fast-track,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters on Monday. In his first State of the Nation Address on July 25, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. told NEDA to come up with the new PDP not later than yearend. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan on Monday said that the overall goal of the next PDP is reinvigorating job creation and poverty reduction. He said they will focus on the full reopening of the economy; more investments in human capital, social development, and social protection; and the transformation of production sectors “to generate more and quality jobs and competitive products.”

Balisacan open to expanded funding for RCEF

SOCIOECONOMIC PLANNING Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said he is open to increasing the allocation for the P10-billion-a-year Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), provided that the use of the funds is well-targeted. “It’s not just about the amount of money, but also how that money is used, and (identifying) where that problem of low productivity (and) low profitability is coming from,” Mr. Balisacan told reporters after the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) luncheon meeting on Thursday. “If (the problems are) properly understood, then I would not mind putting more money there… It’s not likely that those critical problems and issues are uniform across areas of the country because the situation of farmers differs. There are areas where the problem is really about access to market because they don’t have a decent road. They are isolated in islands or where the market is so far away,” he added.

Balisacan says PHL must identify sources of vulnerability to geopolitical risk

THE government’s chief economic planner said the Philippines must minimize its exposure in case the geopolitical situation deteriorates, with analysts citing the potential of the China-Taiwan standoff to escalate. “There are geopolitical risks (and) we have to live with that. That should not constrain you from planning for continued, sustained growth. We can take those. We need to be ready,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters after the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines meeting last week. 

PH poverty incidence rises to 18.1% in 2021; 19.99 million Filipinos considered poor

Poverty incidence in the Philippines rose to 18.1 percent in 2021, equivalent to 19.99 million poor Filipinos, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Monday. In its report 2021 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics of the Philippines, national statistician Dennis Mapa said the poverty incidence among the population in 2021 rose to 18.1 percent compared to the 16.7 percent recorded in 2018. Mapa noted that the 18.1 percent poverty incidence in 2021 equates to 19.99 million poor Filipinos, higher than the 17.67 poor Filipinos in 2018. The poverty incidence among the population is defined as the proportion of the Filipinos whose per capita income cannot sufficiently meet their individual basic food and non-food needs, according to the PSA.

DOE to make energy sector more attractive to investors 

The Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing to make the country’s power and energy environment more appealing and friendly to investors, in cooperation with its attached agencies and legislators. Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the agency is looking forward to healthy relationship between the rest of the energy agencies and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). “I welcome the appointment of the new Energy Regulatory Commission chair because this is a follow through of the President in his desire to see a level playing field in the energy sector so that more investors and more investments can come in,” he said.

Ecozone investments fall by 30% in 1st half 

Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) declined by nearly 30 percent in the first half of the year to P22.49 billion, the agency reported Friday. PEZA officer-in-charge (OIC) Tereso Panga said the investments came from 90 new and expansion projects. Panga, the agency’s deputy director general for policy and planning, said the new projects would generate 14,354 and $747.09 million in annual export sales. “Despite experiencing a 29.85 percent decline in investments in the first six months of 2022 compared to last year’s same period, our export income and employment continue to grow,” Panga said.

PBBM sugar import plan to protect consumers, farmers: Concepcion

Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion supports the plan of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to import up to 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar only if the supply is depleted by October. Concepcion also backed the President’s decision to block the 300,000 MT sugar importation but instead limiting the volume and timing of importing the commodity. “The President’s approach will protect both the consumer and the farmer,” he said. Concepcion said calibrated importation will allow the market “to see if the price levels start to go down” as harvest and milling season is approaching. “There is never a perfect solution, but what you accomplish here is avoiding excessive swings in prices,” he added.

June remittances hit $2.755 billion, highest in 2022

DOLLAR remit-tances to the Philippines hit their highest level for 2022 in June, as Overseas Filipinos increased their “padala” (money sent home) to finance the higher prices of household goods and commodities in the country. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that cash remittances that coursed through banks from different parts of the world to the Philippines hit $2.755 billion in June. This is the highest volume of monthly remittances for 2022. The June volume of remittances is also 4.4 percent higher compared to the $2.638 billion seen in the same month last year. This is also the highest monthly growth rate for the year.

France, PHL eyeing more green energy, agri projects

THE Philippines and France are eyeing to boost development cooperation in agriculture and green energy, among other areas, the Department of Finance (DOF) said. Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno met on Monday with French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz. “We have many projects in the pipeline with France in the areas of infrastructure, maritime security, disaster risk management, agriculture, green energy, education, and climate change,” Diokno said in a tweet following his meeting with the French Ambassador. The French government is currently working on several agriculture-related projects in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) while French companies are also leading some local agricultural projects, such as dairy and rice production, the DOF said.

Budget release slows in July as new government adjusts

The release of notices of cash allocation (NCAs) in July slightly slowed as the government transitioned under a new leadership. Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that NCA releases in July declined 8.72 percent to P406.27 billion, from P445.07 billion in the same period last year. Nonetheless, the utilization rate for NCAs during the month still improved to 71 percent, from just 58 percent in July 2021. The month of July was the first month in office of the Marcos administration and its predecessor had only started to transition various government operations. For the seven-month period, however, budget releases were higher by 2.47 percent to P2.44 trillion, from P2.38 trillion in 2021.