‘Transmission infra vital to RE boost’ By Lenie Lectura
T This June, SM Supermalls will keep freedom, future, and history alive with all these Independence Day activities. Make sure you visit an SM mall near you to celebrate being a Super Pinoy in all ways possible. SM SUPERMALLS
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RANSMISSION infrastructure is critical to achieving a 50-percent renewable energy (RE) share in the country’s energy mix by 2040, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla has asserted. The energy chief, who delivered a keynote message at the launch of the Philippines Economic Update on Thursday, said the government will facilitate the upgrading and modernization of the transmission and distribution lines to
support an efficient transition to cleaner energy. The government, he added, will also resolve to address transmission congestion, whether by adding transmission lines or avoiding subsidies that cause the build-up of excess capacity. “...In our desire to transition to cleaner sources of power, we need a number of things, and one of them that I want to emphasize is the need for transmission. “If one takes a look at the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) of the administration of President
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the emphasis on transmission infrastructure in relation to clean energy is clear,” said Lotilla. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) holds the sole and exclusive concession and franchise for operating the Philippines’s transmission network. The other important element in the PDP is that once the government has fiscal space, it will revisit and re-evaluate financing investment in transmission, Lotilla said. “And Congressman Joey Salceda hears that message very
well. Financing investment will be separated from the regulatory structure of transmission tariffs, and investment in transmission expansion offers enormous potential benefits for efficiency by increasing access to low-cost generation, improving reliability and mitigating counterbalancing market power,” said Lotilla. The energy chief also sees opportunities to develop the transmission sector alongside with other infrastructure projects. See “Transmission,” A2
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Friday, June 9, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 235
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FIRST RRR CUT SINCE ‘20 FOR STABLE LIQUIDITY, CREDIT
Banks’ RRR slashed by 250 bps By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday slashed the reserve requirement ratios (RRR) of banks by as much as 250 basis points, bringing down the effective ratios across banks to single digit, as it seeks to ensure “stable” domestic liquidity and credit conditions.
This is the first RRR reduction made by the BSP since 2020, when it cut the ratio by 200 basis points to the present 12 percent. The BSP cut the RRR of universal and commercial banks by 250 basis points to 9.5 percent. Meanwhile, the RRR of non-bank financial institutions with quasibanking functions (NBQBs) and thrift banks, rural banks and cooperative banks were reduced by 200 bps and 100 bps, respectively. The RRRs of NBQBs and thrift banks will now be at 9.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The RRR for rural and cooperative banks is now down to just 1 percent. The reduction in RRRs shall take effect on the reserve week beginning June 30 and shall apply to the local currency deposits and deposit substitute liabilities of banks and NBQBs.
IN A STORM, BUT STRONG As seen from
DMW notes rise in OFW deployment beyond 1M
Barbara’s Spanish heritage restaurant on Heneral Luna Street in Intramuros, Manila, the Philippine flag, its vibrant colors tangled in the rain, holds profound symbolism as the nation approaches the celebration of Philippine independence from Spanish rule on June 12, 1898. Despite the present-day challenges and storms, the unflagging spirit embodied by the flag serves as a testament to the indomitable Filipino resilience and the triumph of freedom. BERNARD TESTA
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HE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is seeing an upward trend in the deployment of Filipino migrant workers after total deployment last year returned to the above-1 million mark following a two-year downtrend. DMW Secretary Susan Ople on Thursday disclosed that the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed last year grew by an annualized rate of 62.8 percent to 1.2 million from 2021. Publicly available government data shows that the estimated number of OFWs deployed in 2021 was about 741,000. See “DMW,” A2
IBPAP TAPS A.I. FIRM TO TRAIN DIGITAL LABOR
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HE IT and Business Process Association of t he Ph i l ippi nes (IBPAP) said it has partnered w it h St ac kTrek , a globa l provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and programming training solutions, to enable Philippines’s digital workforce and leverage on AI opportunities. According to the flagship organization of the IT and Business Process Management (I T-BPM) industr y, this National IT Talent Development initiative, which is aligned with the vision of the Philippine IT-BPM Indus-
try Roadmap 2028 to create 1.1 million new jobs by 2028, aims to “enable the Filipino talent and open them up to opportunities in the IT-BPM sector.” In a statement on Thursday, IBPAP said the partnership will focus on “embedding” training for industry-relevant skills into the curriculum and internship programs of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and launching IT career initiatives across the Philippines. Among the components of the partnership is AI and Programming Academy. IB-
PAP said this offers “tailored lear ning prog rams and a cutting-edge Learning Management System (LMS) to empower businesses to thrive in the digital age.” This component, IBPAP noted, also enables companies to prepare for an AI-powered future. Another component is the StackLab, which the association said “specializes in establishing AI Research and Development (R&D) units and delivering AI software applications to clients. See “IBPAP,” A2
See “RRR,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 56.0760 n japan 0.4002 n UK 69.7698 n HK 7.1522 n CHINA 7.8604 n singapore 41.5840 n australia 37.3074 n EU 60.0069 n KOREA 0.0429 n SAUDI arabia 14.9536 Source: BSP (June 8, 2023)