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Monday, September 11, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 329
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DOF WANTS ZERO TARIFF ON RICE TO EASE PRICES T
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
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P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages |
@jearcalas
HE Department of Finance (DOF) is pushing for the reduction of rice tariffs to as low as zero percent to cushion the impact of rising world market rice prices and temper the increase of the price of the staple locally. Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said reducing the rice tariffs temporarily to zero or up to a maximum of 10 percent would help in “arresting” the surge in local rice prices. Diokno pointed out that the proposal is part of the DOF’s slate of
recommendations to ensure that the country would have sufficient rice supply at “reduced prices.” The tariff reduction proposal will cover both the Asean and most favored nation (MFN) rates for rice imports, Diokno added. See “DOF,” A2
Lowest-paid Pinoys belong to poorest classes–PSA By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
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HE lowest paid workers in July are also the poorest Filipinos nationwide based on the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Per the PSA data, skilled agricultural forestry and fishery workers received a n average daily basic pay of P363 per day in July 2023. This is lower than the P392 recorded in April 2023 but higher than the P308 posted
in July 2022. These workers also belong to the poorest sector in the economy. Based on the 2021 data from the PSA, the poverty rate among farmers reached 30 percent while the rate for fisherfolk was higher at 30.6 percent. “These sectors [farmers and fisherfolk] had the highest proportion of individuals belonging to families with income below the official poverty thresholds compared to the other basic sectors of the population,” PSA earlier said.
MOROCCO QUAKE A man stands next to a damaged hotel after an earthquake in Moulay Brahim village, near the epicenter of the earthquake, outside Marrakech, Morocco, Saturday, September 9, 2023. The rare and powerful earthquake claimed the lives of more than 2,012 people and caused extensive damage to buildings, affecting villages in the Atlas Mountains and the historic city of Marrakech. The full extent of the tragedy remains unknown as rescuers grapple with the challenge of navigating boulder-strewn roads to reach the remote mountain villages that were hardest hit. The magnitude 6.8 quake on Friday was the most significant to rock the North African country in 120 years. Story in World, page A10. AP PHOTO/MOSA'AB ELSHAMY
ASIAN TOURISM RECOVERY SEEN SLOWING DOWN IN H2
See “Lowest-paid,” A2
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
EXPLAINER »B4
EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT THE GLOBAL SOUTH. BUT WHAT IS IT?
IMAGE CREDIT: OLGAVOLODINA | DREAMSTIME.COM
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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OURISM recovery in Asia is projected to slow down in the second half of the year as arrivals from major markets are seen moderating. According to the latest paper by Oxford Economics, this is one of the reasons the group is forecasting economic growth in the region to sputter in the second half of the year, although Chinese tourists “should continue to provide some impetus.” “Growth in tourist numbers from elsewhere is likely to ease. First, the boost purely from pent-up demand may soon run its course. Second, consumers in advanced economies, particularly the US, will likely moderate their spending plans in the face of an uncertain economic environment. Others may follow as their home economies catch a cold,” the group said.
The independent economic advisory group has projected a “mild recession” in the US toward yearend as consumers use up their Covid-era savings and companies slow down their hirings.
Arrivals in Vietnam, SG up 80% of 2019 levels
The group also noted “capacity constraints of travel destinations,” despite the limited data
it has gathered on this front. “But we suspect constraints are already biting well before tourist arrivals reach their pre-pandemic level and will continue to do so until supply readjusts to meet demand.” Growth in the Philippine economy in the first half of the year was still driven by the “large business process outsourcing sector, although tourism certainly helped.” The local economy, as expressed in the gross domestic product, grew by 5.3 percent in the first half of the year. Recovery of the tourism sector in Asia remains spotty, with Vietnam and Singapore the “most advanced, with arrivals at over 80 percent of 2019 levels in [July]. Much of the rest of Southeast Asia is near 75 percent. Taiwan is least advanced at about 50 percent.” No data was available for China. The group noted that as of June 2023, Macau and Hong Kong were still the main beneficiaries of China’s outbound travel market See “Asian,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.8490 n JAPAN 0.3860 n UK 70.9134 n HK 7.2522 n CHINA 7.7560 n SINGAPORE 41.6323 n AUSTRALIA 36.2526 n EU 60.8284 n KOREA 0.0426 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1569 Source: BSP (September 8, 2023)