The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved a substitute bill seeking to reduce or suspend the excise taxes on petroleum products. The panel, chaired by Albay Representative Joey Salceda, approved the measure that will reduce excise taxes on diesel, kerosene, and liquified petroleum gas to zero. It proposes that excise taxes on low-octane gasoline, used primarily by tricycle drivers, will be reduced, while taxes on premium gasoline will be retained. The excise tax suspension on fuel products will be for six months. “It’s immediate relief for Filipino families, especially affected sectors. The bill will cost the government around

The automotive industry in the country continues to grow as sales in the first 10 months of 2021 increased by 23.8 percent compared to the same period last year. In a joint report Thursday, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) recorded a total of 214,186 unit sales from January to October this year. This is higher than the 173,035 units in the same period in 2020. Both passenger car and commercial vehicle segments continue to recover as year-to-date sales improved by 29.3 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively. With the easing

Higher-than-expected inflation rates in the US and China worried investors, resulting in the negative close of both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the peso on Thursday. The main equities index shed 0.60 percent, or 44.03 points, to 7,331.65 points. All Shares followed with a drop of 0.29 percent, or 11.63 points, to 3,952.90 points. Majority of the sectoral indexes also finished the day’s trade in the negative territory, led by the Property after it fell by 1.35 percent. The Mining and Oil index slipped by 0.64 percent, Industrial, 0.56 percent; Financials, 0.54 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.44 percent.

Monetary authorities are keeping their 2021-2022 economic assumptions for now amid the higher-than-expected domestic output in the third quarter, citing that downside risks remain up. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said end-September domestic output, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), is at 4.9 percent, near the full-year assumption of between 4 percent to 5 percent, and trade remains robust and has exceeded projections. “However, as discussed, we remain mindful of the downside risks headlined by the resurgence of cases tied with renewed quarantine measures and by global supply chain problems weighing on the manufacturing and trade,”