Send Christmas cash gifts digitally – BSP

By Eireene Jairee Gomez

(UPDATE) THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is encouraging the public to exercise the giving of digital cash gifts this Yuletide season.

"We encourage our countrymen to take advantage of the ease and safety provided by digital finance in sending their cash gifts during the holidays," the BSP said in a statement on Monday.

The central bank noted that ninongs, ninangs (godparents) and other gift givers who intend to give cash as pamasko (gifts), as well as Filipinos who want to donate to charitable institutions, can transmit money conveniently through a wide array of digital payment channels available in the country.

These include interbank fund transfers through InstaPay and PESONet, electronic money issuers that are more commonly known as e-wallets, and QR Ph, which entails code scanning and offers consumers faster, easier and cheaper payment options.

QR Ph is based on the Europay-Mastercard-VISA standard, the global standard for secure payments.

According to BSP, the giving of e-aguinaldo supports the central bank's broader thrust to foster the wider adoption of digital payments, which promotes financial inclusion and the efficient flow of funds in the economy.

The BSP pursues this under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, which aims to convert at least half of the total volume of retail payments into digital form and to onboard at least 70 percent of Filipino adults to the financial system through transaction account ownership by 2023.

World Bank hikes PH growth forecast

By Eireene Jairee Gomez

December 7, 2022 50

THE World Bank on Tuesday raised its 2022 Philippine growth forecast, citing a better-than-expected expansion over the first nine months of the year.

The Washington-based multilateral now expects the country to grow by 7.2 percent, up from 6.5 percent previously, after gross domestic product expanded by just over 7.7 percent as of the end of September.

"[S]trong domestic demand resulted in impressive growth in the Philippines, bringing renewed opportunities for income generation and improvements in the labor market outcomes," World Bank Country Director Ndiamé Diop said in a media briefing.

   

The expansion, however, was forecast to cool to 5.7 percent next year as high inflation and high interest rates are expected to temper household spending and investments.

"The bad news is that the high domestic inflation is threatening household consumption. The rising interest rates could temper investments and slow global growth could depress the export of demand sensitive products such as electronics going forward," Diop said.

"With all of that, economic growth in the Philippines is therefore expected to slow down next year."

Ralph van Doorn, World Bank senior economist, said the immediate challenge for the government was that of addressing inflation, which climbed to a 14-year high of 8.0 percent in November.

"Addressing inflationary pressure means deploying both monetary and non-monetary measures, for example, including free or importation lower tariffs to local areas to help augment domestic supplies as needed, support agricultural production for essential services, seeds, fertilizers and also to use... rate hikes to address second-round effects," he said.

Diop urged the government to boost initiatives aimed at sustaining investments, particularly in health and education, given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Certainly, the pandemic has already met with a worsening of child malnutrition and stunting as well as learning losses in the country," he said.

"So, the focus should be on programs that will impact people and improve their future productivity, earnings and capabilities, and capacity for innovation."

Finding ways to improve productivity in health and agriculture is also essential to reducing poverty and food insecurity, and to achieve the government's target of a single-digit poverty rate by 2023-2028, Diop added.

"It not just reduces poverty and food insecurity directly among farmers. It also reduces poverty and food insecurity in urban areas," he said.

"And finally, it enhances the competitiveness of all industries... makes food more affordable and it increases the purchasing power and well-being of everyone."

Oil firms to lower prices this week

By Eireene Jairee Gomez October 31, 2022 

OIL companies will implement a minimal price rollback on Tuesday, November 1.

In separate advisories, Pilipinas Shell and PetroGazz said they will cut the prices of gasoline by P0.25 per liter and diesel by P0.60 per liter.

Shell said it will also bring down the price of kerosene by P0.25 per liter.

Other oil firms were expected to follow suit.

Last week, oil companies reduced the cost of gasoline by P0.35 per liter, kerosene by P0.45 per liter and diesel by P1.10 per liter.

NGCP repairs bombed transmission line, restores power in affected Mindanao provinces

By Eireene Jairee Gomez October 26, 2022 

THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday said power has been restored in the Zamboanga peninsula, Misamis Occidental, and parts of Lanao del Norte after the Baloi-Aurora 138-kiloVolt (kV) line serving these areas has been repaired, after it was bombed on Monday.

In an advisory, NGCP said the affected transmission line in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, was repaired at 4:39 a.m. Wednesday.

The NGCP said an Emergency Restoration System (ERS) was put up for the toppled Tower No. 8 less than 36 hours after the incident.

"It is NGCP's mandate to provide reliable power transmission services. We are committed to our mandate, and we will continue to deliver on this commitment, despite challenges posed by lawless elements," NGCP said.

"We laud the efforts and bravery of our line personnel who pursued immediate restoration without hesitation. We thank the local police and armed forces who secured the area and ensured the safety of our people," the company added.

NGCP reiterated that any malicious activities that are intended to damage or cripple NGCP's transmission lines and facilities may serve only to burden ordinary power consumers.

Suspicious activities involving NGCP's transmission facilities may be reported to the NGCP TIP hotline at 0917-8476427.