NG debt inches closer to P12T as of end-Oct B B D. N @BNicolasBM
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BRAZIL, JAPAN REPORT FIRST CASES OF OMICRON VARIANT
HE national government’s outstanding debt is inching closer to the P12-trillion mark as it further swelled to P11.97 trillion as of end-October this year, marking a new record high. According to the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury, the current debt stock level is 19.38 percent higher than P10.028 trillion a year ago. While National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon earlier said they expect upcoming repayments to bring down the debt stock, the
latest figure is still beyond the government’s expected level of P11.73 trillion by the end of this year. Since the previous month’s level of P11.92 trillion, the country’s debt stock has slightly increased by 0.5 percent primarily due to the net issuance of domestic securities. From P9.795 trillion as of end2020, the debt level has already ballooned by 22.2 percent as of end-October this year. The bulk of the debt stock or 70.7 percent was still sourced from domestic borrowings while the remaining P29.3 percent, from foreign borrowings.
Domestic debt as of end-October reached P8.47 trillion, surging by 19.65 percent year-onyear from P7.077 trillion. It has also picked up by 0.96 percent from the end-September level of P8.39 trillion. Meanwhile, foreign debt hit P3.5 trillion, jumping by 18.74 percent from P2.95 trillion as of October 2020. However, this was slightly smaller than the P3.529 trillion posted in the previous month due to the impact of local and foreign currency exchange rate adjustments. Meanwhile, total outstanding guaranteed debt dropped by 4.77
percent to P426.46 billion from P447.85 billion a year ago. It also contracted by 1.48 percent from P432.86 billion as of end-September this year due to the net redemption of domestic and external guarantees. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael Ricafort said the outstanding debt slowed both on a month-onmonth and year-on-year basis on the back of further reopening of the economy, which led to an increase in tax revenue collections and reduction in government expenditures. C A
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Thursday, December 2, 2021 Vol. 17 No. 55
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1987 CHARTER FRAMER JOINS CALL FOR CHANGE B C U. O @caiordinario
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TOP shot of Edsa on Wednesday shows vehicles on slow traffic mode—precisely the situation that has led authorities to impose the uniform light trucks ban with modification: based on the UVVRP motor vehicle plate endings, light trucks shall be barred from plying Edsa between Magallanes in Makati and North Avenue in Quezon City, both north- and southbound, from 5 to 9 pm, Mondays to Fridays, except holidays. The government is trying to strike a balance between avoiding a return to prepandemic traffic and dampening renewed business activity. ROY DOMINGO
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@BcuaresmaBM
HE country’s manufacturing sector recorded its best performance in 8 months in November as higher demand pushed up new orders during the month, an international think tank reported.
In its report on the country’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), IHS Markit reported on Wednesday that the Philippines’s PMI hit 51.7 in November, up from the 51 PMI recorded in the previous month. This is the country’s highest PMI in eight months. A country’s PMI is meant to gauge the health of its manufacturing sector. It is calculated as a weighted average of five indi-
vidual subcomponents. Readings above 50 show growth in the industry while readings below the 50 threshold signal a contraction in the manufacturing sector. The think tank said the expansion in new orders was central to the PMI uptick in November, with new sales rising for the first time since March. The report also noted
HE “Filipino First” mentality that guided the crafting of the 1987 Constitution will not propel the Philippines to a higher economic growth path that is needed to eradicate poverty, according to a framer of the country’s charter. In the first plenary of the virtual Arangkada Philippines Forum on Wednesday, constitutionalist and economist Bernardo M. Villegas said removing restrictions to foreign investments would allow the country to recover from the pandemic and help eradicate poverty. Villegas said the economy must post growth of 6 to 7 percent in the next three to five years and as high as 8 to 10 percent in the next five to 10 years to end poverty in the Philippines. “We just cannot go back to normal. We have to accelerate our growth rate to about 8 to 10 percent in the next 5 to 10 years somehow replicating what China was able to do during the time of Deng Xiaoping,” Villegas said. “I feel a little more respon-
sible because I was part of the group that wrote this Constitution. We have to finally remove that ‘Filipino first’ mentality that is so obsolete in the present context,” he stressed. By removing “Filipino First,” Villegas said, restrictions imposed on foreign investments particularly in sectors such as telecom, advertising, media, and higher education can be lifted. A lawyer and investment adviser speaking at the same Arangkada forum was equally blunt: The 1987 Constitution needs to be rewritten to eliminate foreign equity restrictions, allowing more investments to flow into the country. At the forum hosted by the Joint Foreign Chambers on Wednesday, Atty. Anthony A. Abad, a senior partner at Abad, Alcantara & Associates, did not mince words when he said that the 1987 Constitution is a “constitution that was written in haste.” “You should not leave constitutions to be written up by politicians. It actually should be written up by economists and people who will understand the economic effects of the constitution,” he stressed. One repercussion is the C A
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Unctad ‘very uncertain’ with trade outlook for 2022 B T J C. P @Tyronepiad
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ESPITE seeing double-digit growth for 2021, the global trade outlook for next year is still “very uncertain” due to economic recovery losing momentum and continuing logistic disruptions in pandemic, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said. In its November Global Trade Update, Unctad said the pace of economic recovery slowed down in the second half of the year from the
PESO EXCHANGE RATES
first half, when growth was backed by easing mobility restrictions and stimulus packages, among others. “In particular, economic growth of China in Q3 [third quarter] 2021 was below expectations and lower than in previous quarters. Lowerthan-expected economic growth rates are generally reflected in more downcast global trade trends,” the UN report noted. “Rising commodity prices and inflationary pressures may also negatively affect economic prospects and international trade flows,” it added.
As for the supply chain concerns, the UN committee noted that the “large and unpredicted swings in demand” amid the recovery this year has resulted in a logistics bottleneck. Unctad said the logistic disruptions, along with high fuel prices, led to supply shortages and heightened shipping costs. “In particular, the backlogs across major supply chain hubs that have characterized most of 2021 could continue into 2022 and therefore negatively affect trade and reshape trade flows across the
world,” it noted. The UN group, in an earlier report, warned that consumer prices will likely “significantly” rise in the coming year due to increase in freight rates. Its analysis points to an 11-percent increase to global import prices between now and 2023 if freight rates remain high. This, as consumer price levels are expected to rise by 1.5 percent in the same period. The Unctad report also cited the semiconductor shortage as a threat S “U,” A
■ US 50.3840 ■ JAPAN 0.4453 ■ UK 67.0208 ■ HK 6.4619 ■ SINGAPORE 36.9357 ■ AUSTRALIA 35.8885 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 13.4304 ■ EU 57.1304 ■ CHINA 7.9160
Source: BSP (December 1, 2021)