BUSINESS

By Julito G. Rada

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Friday revised its balance of payments forecast in 2023 to a deficit of $1.2 billion from a previous estimate of $1.6-billion shortfall over the narrowing trade deficit.

“For 2023, the overall BOP position is seen to register a lower deficit relative to the March 2023 projection exercise. This development is underpinned largely by a narrower merchandise trade gap, as goods imports growth is expected to slow down sharply following the pullback in international prices

Alsons lists P1.38-b commercial papers

ALSONS Consolidated Resources Inc. on Friday listed P1.38 billion worth of commercial papers with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., the second tranche of the company’s P3-billion CP program.

“Consistent with our concern for the environment, we are deliberately moving into renewable energy for our capacity expansion. Our next major projects will use run of river hydro, and solar power,” Alsons executive vice president and chief executive Tirso Santillan said during the listing ceremony.

“Although we continue to rely on our fossil fuel fired baseload plants for reliability and cost considerations, in time we expect to increase the contribution of renewable sources to at least 50 percent of our energy mix to lead to a reduction of our carbon footprint,” Santillan said.

Alsons said it would use the proceeds primarily for general working capital purposes. The first tranche amounting to P620 million was listed in December 2022. This was the third CP program for the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group, which had its first CP issuance in 2018. Alena Mae S. Flores

CAB maintains fuel surcharge of airlines

THE Civil Aeronautics Board maintained the fuel surcharge that airlines may impose on passengers next month due to lower jet fuel prices.

CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the fuel surcharge level for July 1 to 31 would be at level 4 as jet fuel averaged between P30 and P33 per liter. The fuel surcharge for the month of June is also at level 4.

Under Level 4, airlines can impose a fuel surcharge per passenger between P117 and P342 for domestic flights and P385.70 to P2,867.82 for international flights. For cargo, airlines are allowed to collect fuel surcharge between P0.60 and P1.76 per kilogram for domestic and P1.98 to P14.74 per kg for international.

“Airlines wishing to impose or collect fuel surcharge must file its application with CAB on or before the effectivity period, with fuel surcharge rates not exceeding the above-stated level,” Arcilla said.

The CAB said airline fuel surcharge is an optional fee, imposed and collected by airlines to recover fuel costs and stem losses caused by upward spikes in fuel prices.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Data Lake begins deploying Starlink Enterprise units

DATA Lake Inc., a Philippine data company, said Friday it deployed more than 200 Starlink Enterprise units, enabling reliable and high-speed internet connectivity for various industries, including banking, maritime, mining, hospitality, education and remote field offices.

Data Lake, led by businessman Henry Sy Jr., signed an official reseller agreement with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Starlink Internet Services Inc. in October 2022. By harnessing the cutting-edge satellite technology provided by Starlink’s Low Earth Orbit Constellation, Data Lake bridged the digital divide in geographically and communication isolated areas throughout the country.

“Starlink’s revolutionary system offers unparalleled internet speed and low latency, overcoming the challenges faced by traditional infrastructure in reaching remote regions of the Philippines,” Data Lake said.

“Moreover, with its small power and physical footprint, Starlink ensures seamless connectivity with minimal disruption to the user’s operations,” the company said.

Data Lake and SpaceX forged a powerful partnership with a shared vision of connecting all islands of the Philippines to the global digital network, thereby eliminating the digital divide.

Alena Mae S. Flores

of major commodities, particularly fuel.

This is accompanied by a sustained fall in goods exports as global demand weakens further,” it said in a statement.

The Philippines incurred a BOP deficit of $7.3 billion in 2022, a turnaround from the $1.3-billion surplus in 2021.

The BSP said despite the optimism attached to the reopening of China’s economy, such a view remained tentative given its numerous domestic challenges, including declining property sales and real estate investment.

“Nonetheless, prospects for business process outsourcing and tourism industries remain positive, alongside stable remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos, providing support to the current account,” it said.

Latest Philippine Statistics Authority data showed that the trade-in-goods deficit, or the difference between the value of exports and imports, reached $4.53 billion in April, down from $5.32 billion a year ago. It was also lower than the

$5.1-billion deficit in March.

The BSP said it also expects a lower BOP deficit of $500 million in 2024.

“For 2024, the overall BOP position is projected to post a slightly lower deficit relative to the previous forecast. This is hinged mainly on the foreseen normalization and return to pre-pandemic levels of global and domestic economic activity,” the BSP said.

The International Monetary Fund expects global economic activity and trade to rise by 3.0 percent and 3.5 percent in 2024, respectively, both higher than their 2023 forecasted growth rates.

The BSP said these developments bode well for the country’s trade and in-