Market ends slump; Ayala rises B2
IN BRIEF Tsuneishi investing P5b and hiring 6,000
TSUNEISHI Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Japan is investing an additional P5 billion in a ship recycling facility in the Visayas that will generate 6,000 jobs, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Thursday. Lopez said Tsuneishi was among the Japanese companies the committed to invest a total of P14.5 billion to expand their projects in the country. “We met Tsuneishi president Kenji Kawano to discuss the expansion plans of Tsuneishi shipbuilding in the Philippines. Our discussions now also covered a prospective third project on ship recycling, using the latest internationally accredited green technologies,” he said. A project brief showed that high-quality steel even from recycled vessels were highly recommended for re-use. Lopez said the steel-recycling project would not only meet the country’s requirements for inter-island vessels for transport and logistics, but would also cover the steel requirements of major infrastructure work. “We shall continue to cooperate with Tsuneishi in the setting-up and operations of the project,” Lopez said. Othel V. Campos
Business
Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017
B1
Filinvest, JG Summit eye Clark By Darwin G. Amojelar
C
ONGLOMERATE Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc. jointly submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop Clark International Airport, an official of the Transportation Department said Thursday. “It’s a submission by Filinvest and JG Summit,” Transportation Undersecretary for aviation Roberto Lim said. Lim said the agency was currently evaluating the P187-billion Clark airport development project submitted by JG-Filinvest Group. “We hope to complete the assessment also this year. There’s a process. We also have to send it to Neda [National Economic and Develop-
ment Authority] because Neda is the one that looks at detail and macro,” Lim said. He said the proposed Clark airport development project would have five phases. “Initial phase is build new terminal for six million capacity. But it’s early stages,” he said. Clark hosts airlines such as Emirates Airlines via Dubai, Qatar Airways via Doha, Asiana Airlines via
Incheon, Jin Air via Incheon and Busan, Cebu Pacific Air via Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and domestic flights to Cebu, along with Cathay Dragon via Hong Kong and Tiger Air via Singapore. Clark International Airport Corp. president and chief executive Alexander Cauguiran earlier said he was in talks with airline carriers to connect Clark to North America. He said Clark had a huge market potential, with travelers coming from Regions 1 to 3 and the Camanava area (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela). These areas have a combined population of around 24.2 million. “Clark ought to be the most logical and practical airport of choice of the people from the northern and
central parts of Luzon,” Cauguiran said. Cauguiran said at least 12 million out of the 36 million passengers using the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were coming from the Northern and Central Luzon regions. “Ten to twelve million passengers are recorded to be coming from the northern part of the country. Assuming that fifty percent of the figure plies Edsa en route to Naia, you have at least six million vehicles clogging Edsa,” Cauguiran said. The CIAC chief said the volume of vehicles in Metro Manila would be drastically reduced if travelers from those areas would use Clark airport instead of the over-crowded Naia.
Sangley gateway to unclog Manila
ALL-ASIA Resources and Reclamation Corp., a consortium led by tycoon Henry Sy and the Tieng family, said Thursday the proposed P1.3-trillion Sangley gateway project will help resolve airport, seaport and traffic congestion in Metro Manila. “Our proposed project will make Metro Manila and its surrounding environs a better place to live, work and travel in. You will see almost no container trucks on the road and going to the airport will be easier because Sangley is the best location there is,” said ARRC vice chairman Wilson Tieng. Under the proposed Philippine Global Gateway project, ARRC plans to build an international airport, seaport, economic zone and real estate components in Sangely Point. Tieng said the proposed international airport would take only a few minutes from Roxas Boulevard. “Roxas Boulevard is also accessible via the Skyway from Muntinglupa and with the soonto-be completed connector road, even from NLEx [North Luzon Expressway] and Port Area,” Tieng said. All-Asia expects to finish. without using a single government centavo. the airport component of the gateway project within five years from getting the notice to proceed. This includes the reclamation portion which a huge Chinese company will undertake on a turnkey basis, Tieng said. Darwin G. Amojelar
Peso sinks to 50.31 against the US dollar
THE peso resumed its decline Thursday to a new 10-year low of 50.31 against the US dollar, as financial markets await the next move of the US Federal Reserve in its meeting this month. The peso lost three centavos to close at 50.31 a dollar, from 50.28 a greenback Wednesday. It was the local currency’s weakest level in more than 10 years, or since it settled at 50.32 a dollar on Sept. 26, 2006. Total trade volume reached $409 million Thursday. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement that currencies in the emerging market economies, including the peso, were seen to trade sideways as financial markets wait for clarity on the next moves of the US Fed. Tetangco issued the statement after US President Donald Trump’s speech before the US Congress, where he said he was open to immigration reforms, shifting from his harsh statements on illegal immigration. But Trump did not provide specifics and did not comment on the proposed border adjustment tax to boost exports over imports. “The Trump speech as I understand didn’t provide much in terms of details. The market will therefore still try to get a feel of how the stimulus will be funded and whether such moves will raise the US inflation path appreciably,” Tetangco said. “The market may turn its focus again on the Fed and expectations of its next moves. The peso and other EME currencies would likely trade in a relatively narrow band until more clarity comes from US policy makers,” Tetangco said. Julito G. Rada
SHIPBUILDERS’ VISIT.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (center) and Tsuneshi Shipbuilding Corp. president Kenji Kawano (second from left) discuss the expansion plan of the shipbuilding industry in the country. Lopez assured the Japanese executives of the Trade Department’s support and cooperation in setting-up and operations of investment projects. Also shown are (from left) Tsuneshi deputy president Yasunori Kohatake, executive officer Takatoshi Ikenishi and special trade representative Dita Angara-Mathay.
PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing March 2, 2017
Budget deficit jumps 190% to P353b By Julito G. Rada THE government’s budget deficit jumped 190 percent last year to a five-year high of P353.4 billion from P121.7 billion in 2015, as the Duterte administration increased spending in the second half. Data from the Bureau of Treasury showed the 2016 deficit was 9 percent lower than the revised program of P388.9-billion shortfall for the year. “The outturns reflect strong expenditure growth of 14 percent resulting from the initiatives of the new administration to ramp up public spending for the second semester, outpacing the 4-percent increase in revenue collections,” the Treasury said. The Treasury said relative to the economy, the deficit was still within the 2.7-percent revised target, coming in at 2.4 percent of the GDP. This was significantly higher than the 0.9 percent deficit-to-GDP ratio recorded in 2015, and the highest level posted in the last five years. Revenue collections rose 4 percent in 2016 to P2.195 trillion from P2.109 tril-
lion in 2015, but fell short of the revised target of P2.256 trillion. Government expenditures jumped 14 percent to P2.549 trillion in 2016 from P2.230 trillion in 2015. “Tax collections grew by 9.1 percent, faster than the GDP in 2016, reflecting improved efficiency. Tax effort inched up to 13.7 percent from 13.6 percent in 2015. Total revenue collections amounted to 15.2 percent of GDP, just 0.3 percent short of the 15.5 percent revised target and 0.5 percent below the 15.8 percent revenue effort last year,” the Treasury said. Full-year collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue rose 9 percent to P1.567 trillion from a year ago, but missed the revised program of P1.62 trillion. Customs posted an 8-percent growth in collections last year to P396.4 billion, but also missed the target of P409 billion. The Bureau of Treasury’s income declined 8 percent last year to P101.7 billion from P110 billion a year ago. “The decline was due mainly to the lower income from investments and national government deposits. Lower guarantee
Mighty vows to open warehouses LOCAL cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. said Thursday it will open its warehouses to cooperate with the Bureau of Customs. “Mighty Corp. is willing to open all its warehouses to cooperate with the Bureau of Customs for seizure of fake cigarette products should any be found within its premises. It reiterates its long-standing position that it is not in the business of producing fake cigarette products as its own local brands are well-accepted by its customers,” Mighty Corp. executive vice president and spokesperson Oscar Barrientos said. “The company, however, bewails the use by other government agencies of mission orders of BOC to pursue schemes of its competitors
to seize its products using a false pretext that fake cigarettes are stored in its warehouses because of its being in the forefront of effort to alleviate the plight of local tobacco farmers through amendatory legislation,” Barrientos said. He said the result of raids conducted Wednesday by BOC in warehouses of Mighty in Pampanga and General Santos found no fake products. Barrientos said that should have aborted the activity, but other government regulators without appropriate mission orders or directives from its head offices had used the raid to assert offenses by Mighty not covered by the BOC mission orders. Mighty asked BOC to
keep vigilant to avert smuggling and ensure collection of duties and taxes, and insisted it was not producing fake products and had done nothing to violate any of regulation or the Tariff and Customs Code. Mighty said these raids which had not resulted in the confiscation of fake products of its competitors should not be misused by its competitors who were only seeking the destruction of a 70-year-old local cigarette manufacturing company. Barrientos said the company would take steps to ask for the immediate re-opening of its warehouses, and pursue punitive action against those who had misused the BOC mission orders for insidious purposes.
fee collection and dividend remittance also weighed on the year-on-year performance,” it said. Government disbursements reached P283.6 billion in December bringing the full-year total to P2.54 trillion. Compared to 2015, total expenditures grew 4 percent or P318.7 billion from the 2015 level, but missed the revised target of P2.64 trillion by 4 percent. Interest payments for December amounted to P19.1 billion, or 11 percent lower than the December 2015 level and 24-percent behind the P25.1-billion program for the month. “This was mainly due to base effects from the timing of payment for domestic interest payments in 2015. Total IP for 2016 amounted to P304.5 billion generating savings of P23.3 billion against the P327.7 billion program for the year,” the Treasury said. Net of interest payments, the national government achieved a P49-billion primary deficit for 2016, a reversal of the P187.7-billion primary surplus recorded a year ago. This is still behind the program by 20 percent or P12.2 billion.
CLIMATE TREATY.
Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, receives the Instrument of Ratification for the Paris Agreement from senior deputy executive secretary Meynard Guevarra, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the treaty. Legarda said the ratification would allow the Philippines to access the Green Climate Fund.
8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000
7,234.94 64.24
PESO-DOLLAR RATE
Closing MARCH 2, 2017 45.00 46.50 48.00 49.50
P50.310 CLOSE
51.00
HIGH P50.270 LOW P50.345 AVERAGE P50.307 VOLUME 409.000M
P471.00-P690.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.80-P48.90 Unleaded Gasoline P27.90-P33.80 Diesel
OPRICES IL TODAY
P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, March 2, 2017
F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency
Unit
US Dollar
Peso
United States
Dollar
1.000000
50.2910
Japan
Yen
0.008801
0.4426
UK
Pound
1.228700
61.7926
Hong Kong
Dollar
0.128816
6.4783
Switzerland
Franc
0.991277
49.8523
Canada
Dollar
0.749963
37.7164
Singapore
Dollar
0.709874
35.7003
Australia
Dollar
0.767500
38.5983
Bahrain
Dinar
2.652942
133.4191
Saudi Arabia
Rial
0.266752
13.4152
Brunei
Dollar
0.707364
35.5740
Indonesia
Rupiah
0.000075
0.0038
Thailand
Baht
0.028595
1.4381
UAE
Dirham
0.272324
13.6954
Euro
Euro
1.054800
53.0469
Korea
Won
0.000878
0.0442
China
Yuan
0.145298
7.3072
India
Rupee
0.014961
0.7524
Malaysia
Ringgit
0.224947
11.3128
New Zealand
Dollar
0.714500
35.9329
Taiwan
Dollar
0.032500
1.6345 Source: PDS Bridge