BizNews Brief

Banking Assets Up Due to Growth in Deposits

Posted May 26, 2011. Filed under BizNews Brief.

Financial Sector:

  • Due to the banking system’s growth in deposits, its assets went up to Php6.9 trillion from Php6.5 trillion as of February this year.

Fiscal Sector:

  • Despite the “traditionally strong” collections due to the annual deadline for filing of income taxes, tax collections for April hit P103.39 billion, falling short of their P105.12 billion target for the month.
  • The Bureau of Treasury was able to raise only Php1.4 billion from the 91-day papers, less than one-fifth of their targeted Php9 billion total borrowing.

External Sector:

  • OFW remittances stood at $4.59 billion as of the first quarter of the year, growing slower than the 7% increase registered in the comparable period a year ago due to the continued discomfort in the Middle East and North Africa, the disaster in Japan, and the shaky recovery of developed economies.
  • Foreign portfolio investments hit a $2 billion net inflow as of May 6, around three times more than the $725.55 million registered the previous year.

Demand Side

Consumption: Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez stated that his goal of attracting one million tourists will be attained by 2012 based on the upward trend in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts in Boracay, Aklan. Tourism receipts have also been on the upswing for the past ten years as revenues amounted to Php14.332 billion as of last year from Php4.868 billion in 2001.

Investment: The proportion of companies with stable outlooks has increased to 82% during the first quarter of the year from the 78% in the fourth quarter of last year. NAPOCOR and PSA’s outlook were upgraded from stable to positive while that of San Miguel and PLDT maintained their stable credit rating.

Export: The coco sugar, which is a coconut-based product, is seen to become the Philippines’ major agri-based industry in 20 years as coconut farmers make Php1,000 per day or Php30,000 per month as a living.

Supply Side

Agriculture: Unmilled rice production for the first semester is seen to reach 7.61 million MT due to the increased rainfall and expanded harvest area which contribute to higher yields.

Industry: The metallic mineral production of the Philippines went up by 41% for the first quarter of the year due to higher metal prices and domestic mine output. Gold accounted for 71% of the total value; copper, 15%; nickel, 11%; and silver, zinc, and chromite, 2%.

Services: Keppel Philippines Marine, Inc. posted a 71% drop in profits to Php52.933 million as of the first quarter from Php185.194 million recorded in the same period last year.

International Update

The Americas: LinkedIn, a professional?networking site, had a hasty rise in shares opening at $83 this week on the New York Stock Exchange, up by 84% from its original public offering price of $45. This is a clear indication that investors seek to invest in similar shares such as Facebook, Groupon, Inc., Twitter, and Zynga.

Europe: Greece has been advised to focus on meeting its obligations instead of restructuring its debt. The European Central Bank may stop financial aid for the said country should it continue to lengthen its government debt.

Asia & the Pacific: After acting as a “test bed” for making Yuan a global currency, Hong Kong aims to introduce an offshore spot Yuan fixing rate for this year in its aim to enhance growth and at the same time uphold the use of the Chinese currency in one of Asia’s most successful financial markets. On the negative side, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is Japan’s largest bank, reported an 82% decline in income as of the first quarter of the year to ¥31.25 billion from ¥171.67 billion.