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Monday, January 11, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 91
WB RAISES ALERT OVER P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages |
‘QUIET FINANCIAL CRISIS’ BSP POLL: BANKS CAN STAY WITHIN METRICS AMID COVID IMPACT By Bianca Cuaresma
@BcuaresmaBM
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OCAL lenders believe they are well-equipped to handle the economic fallout of movement and operational restrictions due to the pandemic, as they continue to have adequate loan loss provisions, capital and liquidity nine months into the global health crisis. In a recent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey, most bank industry leaders said they intend to keep important bank health gauges within local and international standards in the next two years. “The Philippine financial system is projected to withstand the legacy risks and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic within the next two years
on account of its relatively stable and sound capital, leverage and liquidity buffers, ample loan loss reserves and buoyant earnings performance,” the BSP said in a statement. In the survey, banks said they will still be able to set aside loan loss provisions despite the pandemic’s hampering their operations. “This is important because the projected NPL coverage ratio will indicate the banks’ perceived ability to absorb future losses,” the BSP said. About 44.3 percent of banks in the country said they project their NPL coverage ratio of between 51 and 100 percent while 48.9 percent said their NPL coverage ratio will likely be less than or equal to 25 to 50 percent of total NPLs. Continued on A2
40% chicken MDM tariff to raise ₧5B more–Sinag By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
Aling Kika’s glutinous rice store in Cainta has put plastic barriers to separate the buyers from their sales attendant. The government encourages businesses as usual but with safety protocols. BERNARD TESTA
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By Cai U. Ordinario
@caiordinario
OLICYMAKERS globally should prioritize efforts to prevent the rise of “zombie loans” to avert a “quiet financial crisis,” according to an executive of the World Bank Group. PESO exchange rates n US 48.0530
In a World Bank blog, World Bank Vice President and Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart said that while banks have implemented debt moratoria last year, this is expected to end this year. With this and other banking regulations that were relaxed last year, the nonperforming loans (NPLs) of banks could already be underestimated, Reinhart said. “The alternative—channeling resources into zombie loans—is a
recipe for delayed recovery. Given the pandemic’s already huge economic and human costs, avoiding that scenario must be a top priority for policymakers everywhere,” Reinhart said. In order to address this, Reinhart said policymakers should recognize the scope and scale of the problem. This should be followed by the immediate restructuring and writing down of these debts. See “WB,” A2
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@jearcalas
N agriculture industr y group said imposing the 40-percent tariff on imported mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken would generate additional P5 billion in revenues for the government that could be used to vaccinate about 11 million farm workers. The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) is urging the government to retain the higher tariff on MDM, about a week left for President Duterte to decide on whether he would keep the 5-percent tariff on the imported raw
material or not. The Cabinet-level Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) had earlier endorsed to President Duterte its recommendation to retain the tariff of MDM at 5 percent. However, without a new EO, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has started collecting 40-percent tariff on imported chicken and turkey MDM after EO 82, which halted the effectivity of the higher rate and retained the lower rates on the raw material last year, expired last December 31. (Related story here: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/01/05/ctrmfor-5-mdm-rate-as-boc-slaps-40tariff/)
n japan 0.4629 n UK 65.1983 n HK 6.1977 n CHINA 7.4180 n singapore 36.2774 n australia 37.3276 n EU 58.9803 n SAUDI arabia 12.8100
Continued on A3
Source: BSP (January 8, 2021)