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Thursday, June 27, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 254
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PHL MUST STRIVE MORE TO FULFILL FDI PLEDGES
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Consumer spend to speed up soon—BMI
@caiordinario
EALIZING foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges, including those amassed by the President in his state visits abroad, entails more work for the Philippines.
In its latest brief, Global Source Partners Country Analysts Diwa Guinigundo and Wilhelmina Manalac said the country needs to address human capital development, infrastructure and power, among others, before it can boost FDI. “The challenge to the Marcos government is undoubtedly singular, and this is to address the various impediments to economic growth—governance and institu-
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tional strength, human capital development both basic and retooling, infrastructure, and power. Once effectively addressed, we should be able to see more FDI coming to be registered, and finally, materializing,” the analysts said. These constraints to growth, the Global Source Partners Country Analysts said, made the Philippines the third lowest or 67th out of 113 C A
TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco leads the opening ceremony for the First UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Asia and the Pacific on Wednesday by pouring rice into a giant pouch woven from palm leaves representing the pusô, a traditional steamed rice cake in Cebu. From left: Basque Culinary Center Director of Masters and Courses Idoia Calleja, UN Tourism SecretaryGeneral Zurab Pololikashvili, and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan. DOT PHOTO
UNWTO: PHL GOOD HOST FOR ASPAC GASTRONOMY CENTER B M. S F. A
@akosistellaBM Special to the BM
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ACTAN, Cebu—THE United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on Wednesday proposed the establishment of a gastronomy center for Asia Pacific to be located in the Philippines. In a speech to open the two-day First UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Asia and the Pacific at the ShangriLa Resort Mactan, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, “My proposal, to leave a legacy after these nice days is to pro-
pose to create something of an educational center or gastronomy center here in Cebu. After all, education is our top priority and I hope support is given to my proposal.” In response to Pololikashvili’s proposal, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said, “Allow me now in public to confirm the Philippines’s acceptance to host the UN Tourism Gastronomy and Education Academy or Institute, and we are certainly open to any discussions, whether it be funding, curriculum and the like. We have the support of the national government and importantly, S “UNWTO,” A
RICE PRICE TRACKED
A worker at a rice warehouse on Dagupan Street in Manila carries sacks of rice to be loaded onto a truck. Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. said that a tariff increase on imported rice might be recommended by November if the retail prices of rice “significantly” decrease. On Wednesday, he said DA plans to use the excess 2023 rice tariff collection for crop diversification, cash assistance, and land titling. NONIE REYES
ESPITE the slowdown in consumption in the first three months of the year, the country’s consumer spending is expected to speed up as inflation starts to ease, according to a UKbased think tank. In its Asia Consumer Watch, BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions Company, said the gradual slowdown in inflation could provide a much-needed boost to consumption spending this year. BMI expects consumption spending to increase to 6.4 percent this year compared to the 5.1 percent posted in 2023. In real terms, it estimated this to be about P12.7 trillion, using 2010 prices. “Spending will remain influenced by the elevated inflationary pressures seen over 2023 as well as currently high debt levels, along with related debt servicing costs,” BMI said. “Easing inflation and a tight labor market will support spending, as real wage growth returns to positive territory, which will support purchasing power over the year,” it added. The resilience being shown by the economy is a major factor that led BMI to expect that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will the country’s key policy rates at 6.5 percent in its meetin this week. “Given that the economy has remained fairly resilient thus far, the Bank will be in no hurry to cut rates until price pressures have eased more convincingly,” BMI said. However, BMI noted that household debt remained a risk due to high policy rates. Fortunately for the Philippines, the think tank said, the country has a low exposure to loans with household debt to GDP at 10.1 percent. Household debt levels have started to rise—with consumer loans ratio to total loans increasing 2.7 percentage points y-o-y to 21 percent in the last quarter of 2023. BMI also said the quality of loans is improving as a percentage of nonperforming loans (NPLs) for consumers decreasing 80 basis points to 5.8 percent. “A high level of household debt S “C,” A
PBBM cites strategy to lift PHL rank in hunger index B S P. M
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@sam_medenilla
RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the government needs to ramp up its efforts against involuntary hunger as the country continues to rank low in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). The chief executive said he is banking on the full implementation of the Walang Gutom 2027: the Food Stamp Program (FSP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the anti-hunger initiatives of local government units (LGU) and nongovernment organizations (NGO) to ensure the country’s food security. “If we are truly to succeed in this endeavor, we must put in a whole-of-nation approach to create a lasting solution to this great challenge,”
Marcos said in his speech during the awarding ceremony for the first ever Walang Gutom Awards (WGA) in Malacañang on Wednesday.
Potential to change
IN the 2023 GHI, Philippines scored 14.8 or moderately hungry, which is below the regional score of East and Southeast Asia of 8.2. Of the 125 countries in the GHI list, the Philippines was ranked 66th in terms of hunger severity. The GHI is a measurement used by European NGOs to track hunger incidents globally. “We are aware of the challenges that we face but we see the potential to change this situation,” Marcos said. He reiterated his administration’s commitment to end involuntary hunger before the end of his term through the full implementation of the DSWD’s Walang Gutom 2027:
the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Under FSP, DSWD provides P3,000 worth food credits to program beneficiaries, which they can access by presenting their transfer cards to accredited food retailers. The program has been piloted in Manila, Isabela, Siargao Islands, Camarines Sur and Maguindanao and set to be scaled up next month.
Grass-roots efforts
THE President said LGUs also play an important role in national efforts to end involuntary hunger incidents, since they have better knowledge and have good insights on the incidence of hunger in their localities and how to address it compared to the national government. S “PBBM,” A
PESOEXCHANGERATES US 58.7410 ■ JAPAN 0.3680 ■ UK 74.5423 ■ HK 7.5218 ■ AUSTRALIA 39.0393 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.6568 ■ EU 62.9469 ■ KOREA 0.0422 ■ CHINA 8.0878 Source: BSP (June 26, 2024)