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GIR BREACHES $100B AS OF END-MARCH ’23–BSP www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Thursday-Friday, April 6-7, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 173
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PRICES MAY STAY HIGH DESPITE ‘EASING’ INFLATION IN MARCH
@caiordinario
HE country’s gross international reserves (GIR) breached $100 billion as of the end of March 2023, according to preliminary data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
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ESPITE headline inflation slowing in March, local economists warned that the rise in core inflation could signal that prices may stay elevated in the coming months and that more interest rate hikes may not be far behind. On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that headline inflation slowed to 7.6 percent in March
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nessmirror.com.ph/2023/04/05/ march-inflation-slows-to-7-6-asfood-transport-prices-decline/)
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Forbes: Villar, Razon, Ang now PHL’s richest persons B VG C
Data showed the country’s GIR rose to $100.2 billion as of endMarch 2023 from the end-February 2023 level of $98.2 billion. “The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income,” BSP said. Data showed this is about six times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.2 times based on residual maturity. BSP said the GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three-months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. “The level of GIR, as of a particular period, is considered adequate, if it provides at least 100 percent cover for the payment of the country’s foreign liabilities, public and private, falling due within the immediate 12-month period,” BSP added. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the GIR in
2023 from the 8.6 percent posted in February. However, it remained higher than the 4-percent inflation posted in March 2022. (Full story here: www. busi-
@villygc
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ROPERTY developer Manuel B. Villar Jr. and port magnate Enrique K. Razon Jr. are now the richest Filipinos, according to Forbes magazine.
The Sy siblings, heirs to the shopping mall and banking empire built by their late father Henry Sy Sr., continue to see a drop in their fortunes but are all in the list. Villar, 73, the country’s richest C A
ECOTOURISM Asian delegates who participated in the recently concluded International Ecotourism Travel Mart (IETM) gather in a century-old Peruvian
Parasol tree at the International School for Sustainable Tourism in Silang, Cavite. A historic assembly and world festival pushing ecotourism to its rightful place in protecting the environment and improving the local people’s welfare, IETM brought together delegates and exhibitors showcasing products and services with a strong ecotourism component, green technology and sustainable green practices. IETM was co-presented by the Asian Ecotourism Network and the ISST, the first sustainable tourism school in the Asia-Pacific region. NONIE REYES
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 54.5760 ■ JAPAN 0.4143 ■ UK 68.2527 ■ HK 6.9529 ■ SINGAPORE 41.1708 ■ AUSTRALIA 36.8497 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 14.5517 ■ EU 59.8044 ■ KOREA 0.0416 ■ CHINA 7.9360 Source: BSP (April 5, 2023)