Day: October 16, 2024

Manila: The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) cut key interest rates by another 25 basis points on Wednesday, as price pressures continued to be manageable. Effective Thursday, the BSP’s target reverse repurchase rate will be at 6.0 percent, while the overnight deposit and lending facilities will be adjusted to 5.50 percent and 6.50 percent, respectively. “The Monetary Board’s decision is based on its assessment that price pressures remain manageable,” BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said in a briefing at the central bank’s office in Manila. The risk-adjusted inflation forecast for this year eased to 3.1 percent

Manila: The Department of Tourism (DOT) is planning to launch the country’s ‘layover tours’ for tourists transiting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in November. Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the agency is in consultation with the new NAIA operator the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC). ‘One of the expansions of our Hop-on Hop-off (HOHO) is the offering of transit tours to layover passengers so that they can enjoy Metro Manila’s offerings even with a very short amount of time,’ she said in an interview on the sidelines of the Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (PHISAP) in

Manila: The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center currently has 169 projects worth PHP3.2 trillion in the pipeline for undertaking between the government and private sector. Data obtained from the PPP Center on Wednesday showed that to date, majority or 113 of these projects are at the national level and the remaining 56 projects will be implemented by local government units (LGUs). The updated list includes 91 solicited and 78 unsolicited projects. Data provided by the PPP Center also showed that projects that will likely be awarded by the end of the year include the upgrade, expansion, operations, and maintenance of the

Manila: For the first time, the Philippines is hosting the Investment Policy Forum (IPF), the world’s only annual gathering of investment negotiators and policymakers from developing countries. The 16th IPF, co-hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Board of Investments (BOI), opened at Lanson Place in Pasay City on Wednesday. IISD Director of Investment for the Economic Law and Policy Program Suzy Nikièma said on the sidelines of the forum that nearly 100 delegates from more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe attended the 2024 IPF. ‘We created this platform where

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said its plan to establish a mega cold storage facility and other solar cold storage facilities across the country will help prevent local food wastage. In a phone interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said this will be realized with the utilization of the newly approved PHP1.5-billion unprogrammed fund. ‘Ito na talaga yung hinihintay natin na magawa para maayos iyong problema ng (This is what we’ve been waiting for to fix our problems in the) post-harvest losses,’ he said. ‘Of course, kung cold storage yan, definitely makakatulong yun na ma-preserve, mapatagal