ECCP: Price Act hurts biz, needs tweaks By Andrea E. San Juan
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HE European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) sees a need to amend the Price Act, as the current “procedures” in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) “curtail” business prerogatives to make decisions according to the needs of businesses, especially amid the current global trend of rising production costs. “The ECCP maintains its position that the bills amending the Price Act should support instead a ‘notification’ of price adjustments, instead
of ‘approval’, which is what is currently being practiced,” the 2023 ECCP advocacy paper read. “We believe that the prerogative of manufacturers to determine pricing should be maintained as long as it is not grossly unreasonable, more so now with businesses struggling to cope with the current global trend of increasing cost of production,” the paper added. With this, the ECCP is re-submitting its recommendations as detailed in the previous position paper it provided to Congress in May 2021. Among the chamber’s recommendations is to “limit the definition of the Basic Necessities and Prime
Commodities (BNPC) only to goods vital to the needs of consumers for daily existence and sustenance, or those which are deemed essential.” As such, the ECCP is urging lawmakers to be “selective” in determining the products covered, and not to unnecessarily expand or reduce the categories of products in the list, nor to include products with relatively higher price levels or variants of goods catering to high-tier consumer segments such as luxury and/or premium items. “Expanding the list to include non-essential goods will unintendedly impose artificial price caps on a host of other categories of products
considering the current cumbersome regulations for seeking approvals to make price adjustment on all products in the BNPC list,” the ECCP Advocacy Paper read. While consumers may benefit from this lower cost of goods, this is “temporary at best”, as this may discourage businessew s from further investing and innovating due to low returns on investment to cover increasing production costs, ultimately resulting in the detriment of both consumers and businesses alike in the long-term, ECCP pointed out in its Advocacy paper. See “ECCP,” A2
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APRIL, 3RD MONTH SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS POST NET OUTFLOWS
Hot money net outflow at $352M By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
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HORT-TERM investments made by foreign investors in April continue to remain in the net outflow territory as gross outflows outpaced total inflows, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed. The BSP said registered transactions on foreign investments through Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) recorded a net outflow of $352 million as result of gross outflows of $1.1 billion compared to gross inflows of $713 million. This is now the third consecutive month that short-term investments posted net outflows. “This is higher compared to the net outflows recorded in March 2023 [US$70 million] and a reversal compared to the net inflows recorded in April 2022 [US$1.4 billion],” the BSP said in a statement on Thursday. The BSP noted that the gross inflows recorded in April was 43.2 percent lower than the $1.3 billion recorded in March. The BSP said the majority of the registered investments or about 57 percent were in Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) listed securities like banks, holding firms, transportation ser vices, while 42.7 percent were invested in peso-denominated government securities. Less than one percent of the total inflows went to other financial instruments.
Against the backdrop of Manila’s modern skyline, the ancient walls of Intramuros stand as a testament to the city’s rich heritage, blending the old and the new in a captivating urban panorama. While leisure travelers usually sweep through these historical landmarks and cultural sights, they spend more time shopping in malls like Greenhills, where they can buy pearls and counterfeit luxury-brand items. According to a Frost & Sullivan poll, the Philippines’s beaches are among the top magnets for visitors, who don’t particularly seek out its historical and cultural attractions. Story below. Posztos Janos | Dreamstime.com
Only ERC can audit our system ops—NGCP By Lenie Lectura
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@llectura
he National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Thursday the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is the sole agency that could conduct an audit on its system operations. NGCP on Thursday addressed concerns on its alleged resistance to a comprehensive system audit and inspection to be conducted by the Department of Energy, (DOE), PSALM, and National Transmission Corp. (TransCo). See “ERC,” A2
THEY WON’T VISIT PHL FOR HISTORY, CULTURE By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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HE Ph i l ippi nes ra n k s poorly among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) destinations in terms of cultural experiences as a tourist’s motivation for visiting. The views of international t rave lers were cont a i ned i n Frost & Sullivan’s 2022 Consumer Insight Survey of Target Markets commissioned by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in 2021. Among the items surveyed was the image of the Philippines as a destination versus leisure travelers’ motivation,
by asking respondents the question: “Before Covid-19, to what extent do you agree with the following statement: (Country) is an ideal destination for?” The survey showed that the Philippines specifically ranked lowest in terms of historical landmarks (51 percent); and very poorly for cultural/art activities (29 percent), or museums and religious/places of worship (11 percent); poorly in food explorations/cooking classes (27 percent); and average on city trips (34 percent). Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday about the new tourism branding campaign, Tourism Secretary Chris-
tina Garcia said, “Global trends supported by data from various reliable and reputable tourismrelated publications have ind ic ated t hat post- pa ndem ic, people’s reasons for travel have also changed, chief of which is that people now wish to have some sense of substantive, immersive, and authentic cultural experiences.” She added, “People also value the opportunity to get to know communities. These trends cor respond ver y wel l to t he assets of Philippine tour ism that have yet to be fully maximized–our culture, our people, See “PHL,” A2
See “Hot,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 55.7700 n japan 0.4002 n UK 68.9763 n HK 7.1228 n CHINA 7.8989 n singapore 41.3417 n australia 36.5015 n EU 59.9695 n KOREA 0.0423 n SAUDI arabia 14.8712 Source: BSP (May 25, 2023)