Philippines Business News
Local business and financial news scraped every 4 hours from BusinessWorld, PhilStar, Manila Times, Rappler, and more.
1861 articles from BusinessWorld
Lower costs, spending pickup lift business confidence in June
By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter LOWER oil prices and increased consumer spending as classes reopened helped Philippine business sentiment recover in June after three straight months in negative territory, a survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. The BSP’s monthly business expectations survey (BES) yielded a 0% current-month confidence index (CI) in June, […]
Read more →Gov’t to challenge NCR wage hike TRO
The government will seek legal remedies to overturn a court-ordered temporary freeze on the minimum wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR), arguing that the salary adjustment followed due process, labor officials said on Friday. On Thursday, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 152 issued a 20-day temporary restraining order against the implementation […]
Read more →IELTS banks on human touch, AI amid growing competition
Amid growing competition in the local English language assessment industry, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is differentiating itself by maintaining human intervention in its examinations while integrating artificial intelligence (AI), according to the British Council, a co-owner of IELTS. “With IELTS, what we’re really proud of when it comes to the service and […]
Read more →June loan growth slows to four-month low
BIG BANKS’ loan growth slowed to a fourth-month low in June as businesses turned cautious and consumer demand weakened amid challenging macroeconomic conditions, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Central bank data released on Friday showed that universal and commercial banks’ outstanding loans, net of reverse repurchase agreements, rose by 9.8% to P14.882 trillion […]
Read more →ACT pushes for 50,000 annual classroom construction
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines on Friday said that 50,000 annual classroom constructions must be pushed amid concerns about the widening classroom backlog nationwide. “For us, at least 50,000 classrooms must be built if we are to address the current shortage of 166,000 classrooms,” ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo told BusinessWorld in Filipino in […]
Read more →Supreme Court upholds Susan Yap as Tarlac City Mayor
The Supreme Court en banc affirmed Susan Areno Yap-Sulit as Tarlac City Mayor on Friday, reversing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution on her certificate of candidacy cancellation. “The Court respects, and indeed upholds the will of the electorate, not despite a candidate’s ineligibility, but because, from the evidence presented, there is no such ineligibility,” […]
Read more →BSP: July inflation likely settled at 5.6%-6.6%
By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter INFLATION may have eased to a four-month low in July as lower food prices likely offset pressures from costlier fuel and electricity and the peso’s weakness, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday. “At a time of heightened uncertainty, the BSP projects July 2026 inflation to settle within […]
Read more →Pag-IBIG Fund earns CoA’s highest audit opinion for 14th straight year
Pag-IBIG Fund has once again earned an unmodified opinion from the Commission on Audit (CoA), marking the 14th consecutive year that the institution received the state auditors’ highest audit opinion, officials announced Friday, July 31. In a letter dated June 18, the CoA said its auditor expressed an unmodified opinion on the fairness of presentation […]
Read more →Metrobank books P12.3-billion net profit in Q2
METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) posted an attributable net profit of P12.3 billion in the second quarter, with interest earnings staying strong despite higher provisioning and lower trading gains due to market volatility. The bank’s second-quarter income was 2.33% lower than P12.59 billion in the same period last year, it said in a disclosure […]
Read more →Whizkey Technology Services launches to help Philippine businesses manage growing IT demands
Whizkey Technology Services, Inc. has officially launched as a managed services provider focused on helping Philippine businesses manage their IT operations without the cost and complexity of building a large in-house team. The company was founded by the owners of Global Sapphire Filipinas, Inc., (GSI), an IT systems integrator with more than 20 years of […]
Read more →Badr Al-Busaidi, Oman’s Foreign Minister: The War Against Iran Revealed Just How Much the Policy of Containment Was a Myth
As the recent conflict in the Gulf leaves the region deeply scarred, the time has come for a clear-eyed assessment, writes the Sultanate’s foreign minister in an opinion piece for Le Monde. In his view, the most serious threats do not come from Tehran, but from Tel Aviv. The people of the Sultanate of Oman […]
Read more →June trade gap widens to $4.94B
THE PHILIPPINES’ trade deficit in goods ballooned to $4.94 billion in June as the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) drove double-digit growth in exports and imports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Read more →NG outstanding debt jumps to record P19.07 trillion
THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) total outstanding debt rose to a record-high P19.07 trillion as of end-June, amid higher domestic and external borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
Read more →Marcos approves incentives to attract EV investments
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has approved an incentive program to attract investments in the local manufacture of electric vehicles (EV) and their components, as part of the government’s push to boost the country’s role in the regional EV supply chain.
Read more →Philippine banks see steady lending standards, demand in Q3
PHILIPPINE BANKS widely expect standards and demand for loans to remain unchanged in the third quarter as the banking industry stays resilient despite global geopolitical woes, a survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. Based on the BSP’s latest Senior Bank Loans Officers’ Survey (SLOS), 75.5% of those polled using a modal approach […]
Read more →A safer digital PHL firmed by trust
By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features and Content Assistant Editor Cybersecurity is a perpetual war of defense, where knowing the adversary is just as vital as knowing oneself. But, how do you defend against an enemy wielding ever-evolving technology supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI)? The BusinessWorld Cybersecurity Summit opened with such a premise on the theme […]
Read more →Identity as the digital foundation of business security
By Mhicole A. Moral, Special Features and Content Writer With businesses accelerating their digital operations, identity has become one of the defining priorities in enterprise cybersecurity. Many organizations rely on identity and access management (IAM) to determine who can access critical information, when that access is granted, and how it is monitored. During the third […]
Read more →ICTSI secures 25-year MICT concession extension
RAZON-LED International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has secured a 25-year extension of its concession to operate the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), allowing the country’s largest container terminal to remain under its management until May 2063. The company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with the Philippine […]
Read more →Japanese utility joins Wawa pumped storage venture
A JAPANESE electric utility has acquired a minority stake in the 600-megawatt (MW) Wawa pumped storage hydropower project, joining Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc. and Lopez-led First Gen Corp. in developing the $2.57-billion energy storage facility in Rizal.
Read more →AEV Q2 profit climbs 40% as power leads growth
ABOITIZ Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) reported a 40% increase in second-quarter (Q2) consolidated net income as stronger earnings from its power business, alongside improved contributions from its banking and food units, offset continued weakness in its real estate and infrastructure segments. The conglomerate’s consolidated net income rose to P7.3 billion in the April-to-June period from […]
Read more →EDC says no talks on $5-B Barito offer
ENERGY Development Corp. (EDC) is not engaged in discussions over Indonesia’s PT Barito Renewables Energy’s (BREN) $5-billion proposal to acquire the geothermal producer, although the unsolicited offer has not been dismissed, an EDC executive said. “Of course, any company that gives you an offer, you wouldn’t just dismiss them,” EDC President and Chief Operating Officer […]
Read more →ERC clears third extension of Meralco-Sta. Rita deal
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has authorized Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to continue sourcing power from the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Sta. Rita gas-fired power plant in Batangas for another six months, with projected consumer savings of P4.2 billion from the use of Malampaya gas and other rate-reduction measures. Jose Ronald V. Valles, Meralco senior vice-president and […]
Read more →Kisapmata is the big winner at the Gawad Buhay awards
THE 16TH Philstage Gawad Buhay awards — the Philippines’ answer to the Tony Awards — recognized a slew of productions on Tuesday evening, with Tanghalang Pilipino’s Kisapmata leading with 11 awards, followed by Shrek the Musical with six. As the night’s big winner, Kisapmata won the top awards including Outstanding Play – Original or Translation/Adaptation, […]
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