Day: July 29, 2024

MANILA: The Office of the President (OP) is seeking a budget of PHP10.4 billion for next year, almost PHP200 million lower than its budget for 2024. According to the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) posted on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website, the OP is proposing a total budget of PHP10,446,475,000, lower than 2024’s PHP10,645,573,000. Under OP’s spending plan, PHP1,274,479,000 is allocated for personnel services; PHP7,955,419,000 for maintenance and other operating expenses; and PHP1,216,577,000 for capital outlay. Meanwhile, there is no change in the OP’s proposed confidential and intelligence funds worth PHP4.56 billion, of which PHP2.250 billion was

MANILA: The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Monday clarified that there is no definite plan yet to close the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal. MIAA acting General Manager Eric Ines told the Philippine News Agency that closing the terminal is unlikely to happen at the moment, but added there was an initial thought of shutting it down and expanding the Runway 13/31. “As we speak, the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has not informed us if such a plan would push through. They initially thought of closing the Terminal 4 to expand the Runway 13/31,” he said. SMC leads

MANILA: Both the local stock market and currency declined on the first day of trading this week. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 1.14 percent to 6,649.23 points, while All Shares also decreased by 0.68 percent to 3,605.33. Among sectoral indices, only the Industrial counter closed in the green territory, higher by 0.16 percent finishing at 9,174.50 level. Financials had the biggest drop for the day, declining by 2.65 percent; followed by Mining and Oil, down by 1.18 percent; Property, down by 0.90 percent; Services, down by 0.84 percent; and Holding Firms, down by 0.51 percent. Philstock Financials,

IPOH, Malaysian students who were brought back from Bangladesh will have the option of either continuing their studies in the country or returning to Bangladesh if the situation there is safe again, said Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir. He said the ministry would hold further discussions with the students about their plan, whether they want to return to Bangladesh once it’s safe or continue their studies in Malaysia. “We will see their current situation and the option they prefer, whether they want to continue their studies locally (or not). However, we also need to consider

KUALA LUMPUR, The ringgit opened almost flat against the US dollar on Monday, however, the short-term outlook for the local currency remained promising as the anticipation of a United States rate cut gained momentum, an economist said. At 8 am, the ringgit stood at 4.6550/6610 against the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.6550/6605 . Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that the anticipation of the US rate cut was fuelled by market projection ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on July 30-31. “We should see further support for the ringgit