Newsbriefs that matter

I received my latest copy of IDEA’s NewsBriefs, a regular digest produced by the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, Inc. (IDEA) whose Chairman, Dr. Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr., is my former President/CEO. IDEA’s NewsBriefs’ purpose is to highlight the most recent national and international economic events. I am sharing them to you my dear readers for these news really matter.

 On the Oil Price Sector, it was reported that after driving the price up by P3 the previous weekend, oil firms have responded positively to the President’s appeal to restrain increases by rolling back diesel price by P1.50 per liter. However, industry officials warned that this P1.50 rollback does not assure consumers that this would not be charged in the future. The Energy department has reportedly set a meeting with oil companies to seek an explanation regarding the oil price hikes. Despite the rollback in diesel prices, jeepney drivers demand for a fare hike which can bring minimum fare to P10. George San Mateo of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) said that fares still have to rise in response to continued fuel price increases.

On the Financial Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that economic growth will have to wait in order to control prolonged inflation which could be very corrosive to growth in the future. BSP Governor Amado Tetangco Jr. said that they have been hiking rates, which could reduce the long-term costs to output growth. He also added that price stability is required for sustained economic growth.

While on the External Sector, according to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), about 13 local food exporters are now negotiating orders from Taiwanese importers who both participated in the annual Taipei International Food Show. The Filipino exporters have garnered a total of $8 million worth of deals with the said foreigners. MECO added that for the 13 companies, $1.3 million worth of orders were already booked and about $6.7 were still under negotiation.

Likewise, in a data from the Board of Investments, Mindanao has generated P3.1 billion in investment commitments for the first quarter of the year, higher than last year’s P2.353 billion. Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) said that the investments are coming from 12 companies, which are expected to generate 2,000 new jobs. Furthermore, according to Export Development Council (EDC), the export sector is targeting $80 billion in export revenues by 2010 from last year’s $50 billion. EDC executive director Senen M. Perlada said that the sector expects an 8%-9% growth this year and $64.2 billion in export revenues. The sector also eyes a 14% growth in 2009, according to IDEA.

IDEA is a non-stock, non-partisan institution dedicated to high quality economic research, instruction and communication. IDEA is committed to pursue independent inquiry into the workings of the economy, to propagate the techniques for doing this and to communicate the results of analytical studies to the public.

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