BusinessMirror November 26, 2021

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BM, EJAP Business News Source of the Year for 4th time

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HE Philippines’s platform for a broader look on business was honored for the fourth straight year as Business News Source of the Year at the 30th Economic Journalism Association of the Philippines (Ejap) Awards. BusinessMirror reporters Cai U. Ordinario and Lenie Lectura were honored as Best Macroeconomy Reporter of the Year and Best Energy Reporter of the Year, respectively. Ordinario’s stor y “Pandemic highlights PHL property problems for poor Pinoys” was awarded the Best Feature Story of the Year. See “BM,” A2

Rotary Club Of Manila Journalism Awards

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year

Screenshot of the announcement at the virtual 30th EJAP Awards flashing winners of the main prize, the Business News Source of the Year—given to the newspaper that won the most categories. BusinessMirror and PDI bagged three category prizes each, thus sharing the award. File photo shows BusinessMirror’s three previous Business News Source of the Year Awards, making this latest win a 4-peat.

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Friday, November 26, 2021 Vol. 17 No.49

ejap journalism awards

business news source of the year (2017, 2018, 2019) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

DATA CHAMPION

BUdGET DEFICIT WIDENS TO P1.2T AS OF END-OCT T www.businessmirror.com.ph

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P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 days a week

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

HE national government’s budget deficit widened to P1.2 trillion as of end-October this year as state expenditures continued to exceed revenues. The latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the shortfall from January to October this year was 27.94 percent higher than the P940.6 billion in the same period in 2020. It is also equivalent to 65 percent of the revised full-year programmed budget deficit of P1.9 trillion. State revenues accumulated

dur ing t he 10 -mont h per iod have reached P2.49 trillion, up by 5 percent from P2.37 trillion a year ago. Meanwhile, government expenditures as of end-October climbed by 11.51 percent to P3.69 trillion this year from P3.31 trillion in 2020. See “Budget,” A2

‘HIGHER SPENDING ON HEALTH, MORE JABS KEY TO COVID’S END’

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NDING the pandemic will require all countries working together to speed up vaccinations and increase health spending, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap). In a Unescap blog, Unescap Social Development Division Director Srinivas Tata said vaccine hesitancy is slowing vaccination rates worldwide. He said this contributed to the “fourth wave” in many European countries. Apart from this, health spending by many governments remains well below 5 percent of GDP, leaving millions of people relying on out-of-pocket payments to finance their health needs.

“No one is safe unless everyone is safe, and we cannot afford to leave any one behind in our response to the pandemic,” Tata said. Inequality in vaccine supply also remains a challenge. Tata said as of November 2021, 100 percent of high-income countries (HIC) and 78 percent of upper middle income countries (UMICs) are on track to vaccinate 40 percent of their populations by the end of 2021. These figures are significantly lower compared to only 4 percent of low-income countries (LICs) and 33 percent of lower middle income countries (LMICs). See “Higher,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.5180

BIKERS from different organizations together with government officials and civilians participate in the Cycle to End Violence Against Women at the Quezon City Hall grounds, November 25, 2021. The activity is part of the national commemoration of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women, and the National Bike Day. NONOY LACZA

PSA: Pork sufficiency at 7-yr high in 2020 By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas & Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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ESPITE the devastation of African swine fever ( A S F ), t h e c o u nt r y ’s pork self-sufficiency rate rose to a seven-year high in 2020 based on government data, prompting hog raisers to question the veracity of the figure released by the Philippine Statistics Au-

thority (PSA). PSA data showed the self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of pork last year improved by 3.9 percentage points to 91 percent from the 87.1 percent recorded in 2019. The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), however, said it found “somewhat distorted information” on the pork SSR data released by the PSA. Historical PSA data showed

the country’s pork SSR exceeded 90 percent after seven years. The last time pork SSR breached 90 percent was in 2013, when it hit 91.8 percent. Industry players, however, said the PSA data does not present a “realistic picture” of the country’s pork supply situation since ASF first unleashed its wrath in local hog farms in 2019. L eaders of t he Ph i l ippi ne Chamber of Agriculture and Food

Inc. (PCAFI) and the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) questioned the statistical agency’s methodology. PC A FI President Danilo V. Fausto and NFHFI President Chester Warren Y. Tan are wondering why the PSA’s formula in estimating the country’s SSR does not include the demand for a given commodity.

n japan 0.4377 n UK 67.3354 n HK 6.4780 n CHINA 7.9032 n singapore 36.9257 n australia 36.3477 n EU 56.5852 n SAUDI arabia 13.4686

See “PSA,” A2

Source: BSP (November 25, 2021)


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