By Julito G. Rada N

ATIONAL Economic and Development Authority

now move forward with a better sense of what our priorities and urgent needs are,” Balisacan said. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported last week the 2022 gross domestic product expanded by a 46-year high of 7.6 percent, faster than the 5.7-percent expansion in 2021. This also surpassed the government’s target range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent despite the global headwinds high- lighted by higher interest rates and elevated inflation.

Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Monday the economic outlook remains “promising”, but the country should take more steps to sustain the recovery from the impact of the global health crisis.The economy gained mainly from the strength of the industry and services sectors. The 2022 GDP growth was the fastest since 8.8 percent in 1976.

“The trajectory of our post- pandemic recovery is undoubtedly promising. Still, we cannot rest easy, knowing that we have much work ahead of us as we strive to sustain and improve our performance,” Balisacan said.

Balisacan said the PDP forum―a first in a series of stakeholder discussions and roadshows on the PDP 20232028―is a manifestation of the Marcos administration’s commitment to a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach for achieving long-term inclusive development.

PSE INDEX CLOSING Monday, January 30, 2023 -81.19 PTS. 6,970.97 F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2023 Currency UnitUS DollarPeso United States Dollar 1.00000054.3680 Japan Yen 0.0077110.4192 UKPound1.23970067.4000 Hong KongDollar0.1277386.9449 SwitzerlandFranc1.08683859.0892 CanadaDollar0.75125840.8444 SingaporeDollar0.76184741.4201 AustraliaDollar0.70960038.5795 BahrainDinar2.652661144.2199 Saudi Arabia Rial 0.26641114.4842 BruneiDollar0.75895641.2629 IndonesiaRupiah0.0000670.0036 Thailand Baht 0.0304601.6560 UAE Dirham0.27230114.8045 EuroEuro 1.08680059.0871 Korea Won 0.0008130.0442 ChinaYuan0.1471568.0006 IndiaRupee0.0122680.6670 MalaysiaRinggit0.23579312.8196 New Zealand Dollar 0.64850035.2576 TaiwanDollar0.0330571.7972 Source: BSP TOTAL VOLUME 1,214,575,831 98,365 TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) 8,296,110,153.36 ADVANCES 57 DECLINES 147

UnionBank’s net income

steady at P12.7b

In 2022

UNION Bank of the Philippines, one of the largest lenders in terms of assets, said Monday it posted a net income of P12.7 billion in 2022, almost unchanged from P12.6 billion in 2021.

UnionBank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange this translated into a return on average equity of 9.7 percent, which took into consideration the impact of the P40-billion additional capital from the stock rights offer in May 2022.

“In 2022, we witnessed a momentous shift in our business model. We have a solid balance sheet that continues to provide us above industry net interest margins. The shift in digital also allowed us to grow our fees coming from mobile fund transfers and payments. We were able to book the same bottomline as the previous year, but with less reliance on trading,” said UnionBank executive vice president and chief finance officer Manuel Lozano.

UnionBank president and chief executive Edwin Bautista said the bank made a commitment at the start of 2022 to execute on key strategic imperatives. These include the seamless integration of the acquired Citi consumer business and the commercial launch of UnionDigital as one of the six digital banks licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Julito G. Rada

CREIT receives permit on ASEAN green bonds

CITICORE Energy REIT Corp., the country’s first renewable energy REIT and largest RE landlord, said Monday it received a permit to sell for its maiden ASEAN green bond offering from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fixed rate bonds, scheduled to be issued on and listed at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange on Feb. 10, 2023, will bear a coupon rate of 7.0543 percent and be due February 2028. It earlier received a rating of PRS Aa+ with stable outlook from the Philippine Rating Services Corp., signifying its strong capacity to meet its financial obligation.

The offer period will run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, 2023, with SB Capital and Investment Corp. and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. acting as the transaction’s joint local underwriters, issue managers, bookrunners and selling agents.

“After opening the doors to a new REIT asset class in 2022 focused on RE, we want to show our existing and potential investors and all stakeholders that we are committed to continuously provide them with green and sustainable investment options. We are hopeful that the offer’s objective of funding green projects will translate to a favorable reception from the market,” said CREIT president and chief executive Oliver Tan.

Manulife launches new global, Asia bond funds

MANULIFE Investment Management and Trust Corp. launched two new unit investment trust funds in the Philippines.

BANK of the Philippine Islands plans to return to the international bond market this year to refinance part of or its entire maturing $600-million debt papers, a top executive said Monday.

BPI treasurer and head of global markets Dino Gasmen told reporters at the sidelines of the bank’s P20.3-billion bond listing ceremony at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. they were planning to complete the dollar-denominated bond issuance in the second quarter of 2023. Gasmen said the terms of the offering including size and tenor were being finalized as the bank continued to evaluate the interest rate environment.

“Nothing has been finalized, but we are sure that we will refinance maybe portion of it, or maybe the entire amount. We are going to work on it within the first quarter to decide what exactly what we want to do and execute it in the second quarter,” Gasmen said.

The last time BPI raised funds from the overseas bond market was in 2019 when it raised $300 million from the sale of ASEAN green bonds.

BPI on Monday also listed P20.3 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds called BPI Reinforcing Inclusive Support for MSMEs Bonds. Jenniffer

B. Austria

It said Manulife Asia Short Duration Bond Feeder Fund is a bond feeder UITF investing primarily in a portfolio of mainly investment-grade short duration fixed-income securities issued by governments, agencies, supranationals and corporations in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Portfolio duration is a maximum of three years.

Meanwhile, Manulife Global Dynamic Leaders Equity Feeder Fund is an equity feeder UITF investing primarily in a concentrated portfolio of equity and equity-related securities of large capitalization companies listed globally. Investors may access both UITFs in both peso and US dollar share classes for as low as P1,000 or $100, respectively.

“While global economic growth could remain challenged this year, Manulife Investment Management sees opportunities in high-quality Asian bonds as a resilient investment in the current environment. For aggressive investors, high-quality global equities can offer long-term potential capital appreciation and dividends,” said AiraGaspar, president and chief executive of Manulife Investment Management.