A broader look at today’s business www.businessmirror.com.ph
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 316
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
‘CURRENT ACCOUNT GAP FILLED BY REMITTANCES’ n
By Cai U. Ordinario
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TRO, new law are ways to halt transfers of GOCC funds
@caiordinario
ILLIONS worth of remittance inflows sent by Filipinos overseas to their families in the Philippines have helped plug the country’s current account deficit in the past decade. This is according to the latest economic brief released by US-based GlobalSource Partners Country Analysts Diwa Guinigundo and Wilhelmina Mañalac. Based on their data, OFW remittances between 2014 and
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
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2023 grew an average of 3.9 percent and supported the current account by helping plug the country’s “chronic deficit” during the 10-year period. See “Remittances,” A2
Study: Influencers validate, not dictate Pinoys’ purchases By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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ILIPINO consu mers a re increasingly looking to social media inf luencers to validate their purchase decisions rather than being persuaded by them, a digital marketing agency revealed.
The “Like, follow, buy” study by Unbox Group in collaboration with Ripple8, which polled 1,110 Filipinos between the ages of 12 and 43, found that an overwhelming majority use social media sites to look up evaluations. See “Influencers,” A2
BOTTLENECK AFTER THE BREAK Motorists faced heavy traffic on the Edsa-Kamuning flyover in Quezon City on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, as the long weekend drew to a close. The increased volume of vehicles returning to Metro Manila, coupled with ongoing reblocking and repairs by the Department of Public Works and Highways along the major thoroughfare, led to significant delays and highlighted the persistent congestion challenges in the area. NONOY LACZA
HE De pa r t ment of Finance (DOF) will halt the transfer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation›s (PhilHealth) fund balances if the Supreme Court issues a temporary restraining order (TRO). Finance Secretar y R alph G. Recto said the SC has not issued a TRO yet against the remittance of PhilHealth ’s P89.9bi l l ion f und ba l ances to t he Bureau of the Treasur y (BTr) to bankroll the unprogrammed appropriations. “We will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court or even by Congress. If Congress passes a law telling us to stop and give back the money, we will do so. If the Supreme Court says the same thing, we will do so,” Recto said at the DOF’s budget hearing in the Senate on Tuesday. See “GOCC,” A2
MORE GIRLS NOT IN SCHOOL, AT WORK OR TRAINING IN PHL
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OR E you ng g irls are not in school, at work or training compared to boys in the Philippines, according to the World Bank. In a data blog, World Bank Gender Group Data Scientists Anna Tabitha Bonfert and Divyanshi Wadhwa said investing in girls is crucial in attaining both economic growth and poverty reduction targets. Bonfert and Wadhwa said keeping girls in schools and helping them become leaders in business and politics will
benefit local communities and whole economies. “Investing in adolescent girls not only transforms individual lives but also generates significant economic and social returns that benefit us all,” the data scientists said. “Hea lt hy a nd educated adolescents can contribute to their families, communities and societies at their full potential driving economic growth and positive social transformation,” they added. See “Girls,” A2
PBBM CITES MEDIA’S ROLE Presiding at the mass oath-taking Tuesday of six media
organizations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. cited their key role in reporting the true state of things and keeping the government in the “right direction.” He committed to back initiatives to expose “fake news.” Friends of the President and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos recently denounced an attempt to misrepresent them as being friends with some Pogo businessmen, via a 2020 random photo in a restaurant where they were approached by a group of Chinese diners, whom they did not know, and who asked to have their pictures taken with them. Among those then dining with the Marcoses is now the special envoy to China, Benny Techico and acclaimed chef Sandy Daza. Both said none of them knew the other group of diners, who left right after their pictures were taken with them. The President declared in his third Sona a total ban on Pogos in the country. Story on the President’s address to media, in A5 News, “Marcos Jr cites media’s role in keeping govt honest, vows safety for journalists,” BERNARD TESTA
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.3290 n JAPAN 0.3899 n UK 74.3036 n HK 7.3581 n CHINA 7.9094 n SINGAPORE 43.2004 n AUSTRALIA 38.1404 n EU 62.8744 n KOREA 0.0424 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0126 Source:
BSP (27 August 2024)