Forex buffer down to $104 billion in March
The country’s gross international reserves declined for the third straight month in March, dropping to a four-month low of $104.82 billion from $105.16 billion in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said yesterday......»»
Losses to Philippine agriculture due to El Nino reach 31 mln USD
MANILA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The El Nino dry spell and ensuring drought have caused over 1.75 billion pesos (roughly 31 million U.S. dollars) in damage to Philippine agriculture, a senior government official said Wednesday. This year's losses due to El Nino are still low compared to 2009 when the damage to agriculture reached 17 billion pesos (302 million dollars), Presidential Communications Office Assistant Se.....»»
Philippines dollar reserves slip to $102.67 billion
The country’s foreign exchange buffer slipped to $102.67 billion in February, the second straight month of decline, acccording to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Philippines forex reserves dip to $103 billion in January
The country’s forex buffer slid slightly to $103.4 billion in January as the government paid its foreign debts and the central bank’s gold holdings took a hit from lower prices in the global market......»»
Forex buffer rises to $102.4 billion in 2023
The country’s foreign exchange buffer increased by 6.5 percent to $102.45 billion in 2023 from $96.15 billion in 2022, ending two years of slump on the back of higher foreign borrowings by the national government and rising gold prices in the world market, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Philippines gross int l reserves settle at 102.5 bln USD by December
MANILA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) settled at 102.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December from 102.7 billion dollars at the end of November, the Philippine central bank said on Friday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments.....»»
Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Jan. 5
MANILA -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) settled at 102.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December from 102.7 billion dollars at the end of November, the Philippine central bank said on Friday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and.....»»
Philippines gross int l reserves settle at 102.5 bln USD by December
MANILA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) settled at 102.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December from 102.7 billion dollars at the end of November, the Philippine central bank said on Friday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments.....»»
Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Jan. 5
MANILA -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) settled at 102.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December from 102.7 billion dollars at the end of November, the Philippine central bank said on Friday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and.....»»
Philippines forex buffer hits $101 billion in November
Rising gold prices boosted the Philippines’ foreign exchange buffer to a seven-month high of $101.3 billion in November from $101.03 billion in October, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Philippines gross int l reserves level rises to 101.3 bln USD by November
MANILA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 101.3 billion U.S. dollars as of November from the October level of 101 billion dollars, the Philippine central bank has said. The central bank said on Thursday night that the latest GIR level represented a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services.....»»
Philippines gross int l reserves rise to 101.1 bln USD in October
MANILA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 101.1 billion U.S. dollars at the end of October from 98.1 billion dollars at the end of September, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday night. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and pa.....»»
Forex buffer hits above $100 billion in October
he proceeds of the retail onshore dollar bond issuance by the national government boosted the Philippines’ foreign exchange buffer to hit a six-month high of $101.09 billion in October from $98.12 billion in September......»»
Philippines gross int l reserves rise to 101.1 bln USD in October
MANILA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 101.1 billion U.S. dollars at the end of October from 98.1 billion dollars at the end of September, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday night. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and pa.....»»
Forex buffer slips to $98.7 billion in September
The Philippines’ foreign exchange buffer remained below the $100 billion level, declining even further to a seven-month low of $98.69 billion in September from $99.57 billion in August, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
PHAPi: Cyber-attack on PhilHealth to further delay unpaid claims reimbursement
The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. on Wednesday said it is expecting further delays in the reimbursement of arrears of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to private hospitals due to the cyber-attack on the agency’s online system. According to PHAPi president Dr. Rene de Grano, the cyber-attack on the state-run health insurer’s online system is expected to cause further delay in its promise to settle its outstanding debts to hospitals amounting to P27 billion. “During the past hearing, PhilHealth president [Emmanuel] Mandy Ledesma promised to pay by December the P27 billion-worth of supposed arrears of PhilHealth to different hospitals,” De Grano told reporters in a chance interview. “Of course, we are hoping that it will be pushed through. But then this problem (cyber-attack) came, which made PhilHealth’s entire system down, then of course, we will be expecting more delays,” he added. Over the weekend, PhilHealth confirmed reports that there was an “information security incident” on its online system. The Department of Information and Communications Technology previously stated that the agency’s system was attacked by Medusa ransomware. As defined by Trend Micro, a multinational cyber security software company, ransomware is a type of malware that prevents or limits users from accessing their system, either by locking the system’s screen or by locking the users’ files until a ransom is paid. In the state-run health insurer’s case, the Medusa ransomware group was said to be demanding $300,000 in exchange for access to its system. The group threatened to leak the personal information of PhilHealth members if it did not pay the ransom. Worst case scenario Earlier this month, Ledesma made a commitment before lawmakers in the budget deliberation of the House Committee on Appropriations on the proposed P199 billion budget of the Department of Health for next year that the state-run health insurer would settle “a bulk or majority” of its P27 billion unpaid claims to various hospitals in the country. Of the P27 billion worth of unpaid claims by PhilHealth to various hospitals, P10 to P15 billion are estimated to be from private hospitals. Unlike big private hospitals that have “buffer funds,” De Grano said that further delays in payment would cripple the operations of smaller private hospitals. “Most of the small private hospitals rely on or are very dependent on patients who are NBB, charity patients, or no balance billing,” he said. “If there would be further delay in payments, smaller private hospitals will run out of money to the point that it will affect their cash flow. It will affect their operations.” If the non-payment of PhilHealth continues, he warned that smaller private hospitals would require their patients to pay their bills from their pockets. “The worst that will happen, initially, perhaps smaller private hospitals would no longer accept [PhilHealth] beneficiaries. They would ask patients to pay their bills out of their pockets,” he said. “Because, otherwise, we can no longer provide these services. Private hospitals are paying for their nurses, medicines, and supplies. If PhilHealth won’t pay them, it would empty their funds,” he added. Delayed HEA Meanwhile, De Grano also expressed his support for the complaint filed by a group of private healthcare workers against several DOH regional offices before the Anti-Red Tape Authority over the long overdue distribution of their health emergency allowances or HEA. “They prioritized the government facilities. The private [hospitals] were left,” he said. “They should tell the truth. They must tell if there are no longer funds available.” Earlier this week, the United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines, whose members are part of at least 26 private hospitals in the country, filed a complaint against DOH regional offices over its failure to distribute P5.8 billion worth of HEA. Under Republic Act No. 11494, also known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, healthcare workers who were at the frontline of the government's fight against COVID-19 are mandated to receive HEA and other benefits. The post PHAPi: Cyber-attack on PhilHealth to further delay unpaid claims reimbursement appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BBM, hoarders in test of wills over price cap
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. left yesterday for Indonesia, but not before taking a potshot at smugglers and hoarders over the spiraling price of rice that necessitated his issuance of a price cap on the staple grain. Marcos in his departure speech said that even as he attends the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, controlling the rice price surge will be top of mind. Early in his presidency, Marcos said he would work to bring down the price of rice to P20 a kilo, half of the P41 to P45 per kilo price ceiling he imposed via Executive Order 39, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, last Thursday. The President was adamant that there is no valid reason rice should be selling for upwards of P50 per kilo, considering that data from the Department of Agriculture showed that with the coming rice harvest and imports, there’ll be enough rice buffer stocks to last the year. “Based on our studies, the only reason for this is that there are smugglers and hoarders,” he said in Filipino. The price cap — P41 per kilo for regular-milled rice and P45/kilo for the well-milled variety — will be implemented starting today, 5 September. Rice retailers across the nation were one in saying that they could not possibly sell at below their purchase price despite the government’s threat to penalize violators of EO 39. Monitoring teams from the DA and the trade, local government and justice departments, along with those from local government units, will go around wet markets and supermarkets to ensure compliance with the price cap. Temporary measure Earlier, Marcos tried to assure traders and the public that the price ceiling would be temporary while waiting for local farmers to harvest their palay. “I need to explain that this is only temporary. It won’t last long. We are harvesting rice, we are harvesting rice here in the Philippines, [until] the season is over,” he stressed. “And so when the time comes, we’ll also have imported rice. It will come in at the same time [as the local harvest]. We will take it to the market, we will let rice retailers cap their own prices,” he added. The President said he will work with ASEAN leaders during the summit to address the various challenges facing the region, including the territorial irritants in the South China Sea (see related story). As the “epicenter of growth” in Asia, ASEAN-member countries can play a big role in ensuring food security, calling for climate justice, protecting migrant workers, and fully tapping the potential of digital economies. “We will foster cooperation with these countries in areas such as trade and investment, climate action, food security, clean energy, and maritime cooperation,” Marcos said, before boarding his plane with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos. Marcos said he will also take part in the ASEAN Plus 3 and East Asia summits where he will discuss developments in the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Welcomed “ASEAN has always been closely intertwined with Philippine foreign policy,” the President said. “My administration will continue to ensure that our constructive engagements with ASEAN, our dialogue partners, and stakeholders will serve our national interest and the wellbeing of the Filipino people.” The ASEAN Summit is the second to be held in Indonesia this year after the one held in Labuan Bajo last May. House lawmakers welcomed the rice price ceiling set to be enforced today but expressed reservations, including making it more “flexible” based on prevailing regional market conditions. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said, “The situation will vary per region, so a national rice price ceiling should be made more responsive to local supply-demand dynamics.” Salceda emphasized that increasing domestic supply and diversifying importation sources like Pakistan and the United States should be the long-term solution. “We’ve seen this crisis before. We know how to deal with it. It mostly involves signaling to our world partners that we will not over-import so that they don’t anticipate and drive prices up,” Salceda said. Independent opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman said that Marcos should have imposed the rice price cap when the commodity was being sold at P50 to P60 per kilo. Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday declared that P2 billion sourced from this year’s budget will be earmarked to aid rice retailers who may be affected by the price cap. @tribunephl_Lade @tribunephl_eao The post BBM, hoarders in test of wills over price cap appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
July BoP deficit narrows — BSP
The balance of payments, or BoP, posted a narrower deficit in July due to proceeds of the national government’s foreign currency-denominated debt from commercial sources, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported. Data from BSP showed that the country’s BOP position hit a deficit of $53 million in July, from a deficit of $1.8 billion a year ago. “The BoP deficit in July 2023 reflected net outflows arising mainly from the National Government’s payments of its foreign currency obligations,” BSP wrote in an accompanying statement. The central bank added that the cumulative BoP level for January to July was a $2.2 billion surplus, a reversal from the $4.9 billion deficit recorded in the same period a year ago. BSP said the reversal mainly reflected the improvement in the balance of trade and the sustained inflows from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the NG, trade in services, and foreign direct investments. Meanwhile, the gross international reserves, or GIR, level increased to $100 billion as of end July from $99.4 billion as of end June. Buffer more than enough “The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income,” BSP said. “Moreover, it is also about 5.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity,” it added. In an emailed commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the country’s BoP data could still be supported by the country’s structural US dollar inflows, such as foreign direct investments and overseas Filipino remittances. The post July BoP deficit narrows — BSP appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BSP posts deficit of $53M
The country's balance of payments (BoP) posted a narrower deficit in July as the government due to proceeds of the national government's foreign currency-denominated debt from commercial sources, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported. Data from BSP showed that the country's BOP position hit a deficit of $53 million in July, from a deficit of $1.8 billion a year ago. "The BOP deficit in July 2023 reflected net outflows arising mainly from the National Government's (NG) payments of its foreign currency debt obligations," BSP wrote in its accompanying statement. The central bank added that the cumulative BOP level for January to July was a $2.2 billion surplus, a reversal from the $4.9 billion deficit recorded in the same period a year ago. BSP said the reversal mainly reflected the improvement in the balance of trade and the sustained inflows from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the NG, trade in services, and foreign direct investments. Meanwhile, the gross international reserves (GIR) level increased to $100.0 billion as of end-July 2023 from $99.4 billion as of end-June 2023. "The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income," BSP said. "Moreover, it is also about 5.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity," it added. In an emailed commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the country's BOP data could still be supported by the country's structural US dollar inflows, such as foreign direct investments and overseas Filipino remittances. He added that the higher GIR in July 2023 could still support the country's "relatively stronger external position," which fundamentally supports the country's relatively favorable credit ratings. For context, the country's sovereign bonds received a "Baa2" rating from Moody's Investors Service, "BBB+" from S&P Global Ratings, and "BBB" from Fitch Ratings. The three debt watchers gave the Philippines a "stable outlook," indicating that there won't be any changes to the rating in the next 12 to 18 months. The post BSP posts deficit of $53M appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, and anger grows
The death toll in Hawaii from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century ticked towards 100 Sunday, fueling criticism that government inaction contributed to the heavy loss of life. At least 96 people were confirmed to have died as of Sunday night, but officials warned the figure was likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs work their way through hundreds of homes and burned-out vehicles in Lahaina. The historic coastal town on the island of Maui was almost destroyed by the fast-moving inferno early Wednesday morning, with survivors saying there had been no warnings. When asked Sunday why none of the island's sirens had been activated, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said she would wait for the results of an investigation announced by the state's attorney general. "I'm not going to make any excuses for this tragedy," Hirono, a Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union." "We are really focused, as far as I'm concerned, on the need for rescue, and, sadly, the location of more bodies." More than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless. "The remains we're finding are from a fire that melted metal," said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. "When we pick up the remains... they fall apart." That was making identification difficult, he added, appealing for those with missing relatives to give DNA samples that might speed up the process. Pelletier said cadaver dogs still had a vast area to search in the hunt for what could still be hundreds of people who are unaccounted for. "We're going as fast as we can. But just so you know, three percent -- that's what's been searched with the dogs," he said. Questions over alert system The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to nonprofit research group the National Fire Protection Association. The death toll surpassed 2018's Camp Fire in California, which virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people. Questions are being asked about how prepared authorities were for the catastrophe, despite the islands' exposure to natural hazards such as tsunamis, earthquakes and violent storms. In its emergency management plan last year, the State of Hawaii described the risk wildfires posed to people as being "low." Yet the layers of warning that are intended to buffer a citizenry if disaster strikes appear not to have operated. Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cell phones. No emergency sirens sounded and many Lahaina residents spoke of learning about the blaze from neighbors running down the street or seeing it for themselves. "The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack," resident Vilma Reed, 63, told AFP. "You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us." Reed, whose house was destroyed by the blaze, said she was dependent on handouts and the kindness of strangers, and was sleeping in a car with her daughter, grandson and two cats. The New York Times reported Sunday that firefighters sent to tackle the flames found some hydrants had run dry. "There was just no water in the hydrants," the paper quoted firefighter Keahi Ho as saying. Roadblocks The congregation of Grace Baptist Church, which was leveled in the blaze, gathered Sunday in a coffee shop in Kahului for two hours of solace. Pastor Arza Brown led the service in his sandals, the only shoes that survived the blaze that destroyed his house. But the trappings of ministry were far from his mind as he comforted fellow evacuees. "That's one thing about getting together today -- just to be with each other and encourage each other," he said. For some survivors, the difficult days after the tragedy were being worsened by what they see as official intransigence, with roadblocks preventing them from getting back to their homes. Maui police said the public would not be allowed into Lahaina while safety assessments and searches were ongoing -- even some of those who could prove they lived there. Maui's fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave baking the US southwest. Europe and parts of Asia have also endured soaring temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc. Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more likely and more deadly. The post Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, and anger grows appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
GIR up slightly to $99.7 billion in July
The country’s foreign exchange buffer increased slightly amid the rising valuations of the central bank’s gold holdings, but stayed below the $100-billion level for the second straight month in July, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»