In strongest close since June, peso hits ₧53.845 vs $ By Cai U. Ordinario
F World | A15
Targeting Iran, US restricts Iraq’s access to dollars, causing pain
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ILIPINOS may get some reprieve from the high cost of imports as the peso strengthened against the United States dollar on Thursday, according to data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP). The Philippine peso closed at P53.845 to the greenback, the strongest close of the peso since June 2022. Based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data, the last time the peso was at the P53 level was on June 20, 2022,
when it closed at P53.551. Ateneo de Manila University Department of Economics Chairperson Alvin P. Ang said this strengthening may be due to the slower interest rate hike in the US. “That’s [strengthening of the peso] okay for imports and can help reduce inflation. [This is] also a result of the Fed slowing [the] rate increase,” Ang told the BusinessMirror. On Thursday, the US Federal Reserve decided to increase interest rates by only 25 basis points. This raised the interest rate in the US to 4.5 to 4.75
percent. Ang said, however, that the strong performance of the Philippine currency is not an assurance that inflation will continue to slow in the coming months.
Think local
The war in Ukraine can still affect the supply of food and energy. Ang said this means the country cannot rely on external factors to bring down the cost of commodities locally. “We must not be dependent too much globally,” Ang said. “Start local production capacity, [in] both food and manu-
facturing.” Earlier, the BSP said the increase in commodity prices could still exceed 8 percent in January on the back of higher electricity and water rates, as well as expensive domestic petroleum prices. BSP said inflation could settle within the range of 7.5 to 8.3 percent in January. This is still higher than the 8.1 percent posted in December 2022. The central bank said the reduction in LPG prices as well as the peso appreciation could contribute to easing price pressures for the month.
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PHL ENDS ’22 WITH DEBT OF P13.4T, HIGHEST EVER T T www.businessmirror.com.ph
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
n
Friday, February 3, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 111
ADB extends $300K grant to upgrade workers’ skills
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HE Philippines ended 2022 with an outstanding debt of P13.418 trillion, 14.4 percent over the P11.728 trillion recorded in end-2021, latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed.
Histor ic a l Trea su r y d at a showed it was the Philippines’s highest end-December outstanding debt on record. The country’s outstanding obligation at the end of last
HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a grant worth $300,000 (about P16.143 million at current exchange rates) to five industry networks to improve the skills of workers in tourism, construction, animation, agribusiness and women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs). At the sidelines of the launch of “SkillsUpNet Philippines,” or “SUNPh,” program, ADB Philippine Country Director Kelly Bird told reporters that this is just the first phase of the program and, hopefully, all networks will be able to secure additional funding in the succeeding roll outs. Bird said access to the grants will be based on the performance of the networks. The networks of enterprises, located in the Bi-
year was below the national government’s (NG) projected debt stock level of P13.43 trillion for 2022. See “PHL,” A2
PBBM: US HAS KEY ROLE IN GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES By Samuel P. Medenilla
P
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RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the United States (US) will play a crucial role in steering the country away from ongoing international geopolitical and economic turmoil. Marcos made the pronouncement during his meeting with US Secretary Defense Lloyd Austin III in Malacañang to discuss possible new security partnerships. “I would be stating the obvious to say that our longest partner and ally has been the United States and as we traverse this rather troubled waters, geopolitical waters, economic waters that we are facing, I again put great
importance on that partnership, specifically with the United States and all partnerships and alliances that we are able to make with our friends around the world,” Marcos said. He noted that the geopolitical situation in Asia-Pacific has become “complicated” and will need an international response to address. The President made the pronouncement amid China’s ongoing maritime dispute with its Asia-Pacific neighbors, including the Philippines. “It is something that we can only navigate properly with the help of our partners and our allies in the international sphere,” Marcos said.
PESO exchange rates n US 54.5910
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col and Davao regions as well as Cebu province, will train about 600 workers. “What we want to do in the second phase through the networks is expand, keep the five sectors; but expand to more locations across the country. So we’re [going to] give a larger number of grants,” Bird said. “At the end of Phase 2, we do an impact evaluation and then discuss with the government [if we] can proceed to the third phase, which will be a nationwide rollout: more sectors, more locations,” he added. Bird also told reporters that receiving a first grant will not be a deterrent for the networks included in the first phase to be See “ADB,” A2
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III poses with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a courtesy call at Malacañang Palace on Thursday, February 2, 2023. The US and the Philippines announced an agreement to expand American military presence in the country, where US forces would be granted access to four more Philippine military camps, effectively giving them new ground to ramp up deterrence against China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. The allies said in a joint statement that “substantial” progress has been made in projects at five Philippine military camps, where US military personnel were earlier granted access under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA. Construction of American facilities is currently under way. JAM STA ROSA/POOL PHOTO VIA AP
n japan 0.4234 n UK 67.5837 n HK 6.9610 n CHINA 8.0954 n singapore 41.7969 n australia 38.9507 n EU 60.0064 n KOREA 0.0447 n SAUDI arabia 14.5483 Source: BSP (February 2, 2023)