MANILA, Philippines — The government’s debt load continued to pile up in August to hit a record high, as the state ramps up its borrowings to make up for dismal revenues amid a pandemic-induced economic weakness. What’s new The state’s outstanding liabilities stood at P11.64 trillion in August, up by 0.27% month-on-month, the Bureau of […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 11:14 a.m.) — Fresh restrictions imposed in August to curb the spread of hyper-contagious Delta variant threw more people into unemployment during the month. There were 3.88 million people who were either unemployed or out of business in the Philippines in August, up from 3.07 million in July, results of a survey of […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The government should begin tightening its belt on COVID-19 spending only when economic and employment gains are sustained, according to several economists. In interviews with The STAR, the economists urged policymakers to increase, if not sustain, funding for COVID measures, particularly the distribution of cash subsidies and improvement of health facilities, to […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — Bank lending finally snapped eight consecutive months of contraction to return to positive territory in August, bringing good news to a government that is counting on banks to jumpstart the economy from a pandemic-induced crash. Excluding interbank lending, outstanding loans issued by big banks rose 1.3% year-on-year in August to P9.2 trillion, the […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered the closure of Lucena-based Grand Agri Rural Bank Inc., bringing to six the number of problematic banks shuttered this year. BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said the Monetary Board has issued a resolution prohibiting the Grand Agri Rural Bank from doing business pursuant to Section […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The World Bank turned less bullish on economic recovery for the Philippines after it further downgraded the country’s growth prospects for the year amid the renewed lockdown due to the Delta variant and the still slow pace of vaccine rollout. Based on the multilateral lender’s East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic […]
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