In a regular press briefing on Wednesday in Malacanang, Lacierda said the Aquino leadership has to fix the excesses of the past administration by restructuring and reviewing the whole process of allocating and releasing money.

“It took some time for us to do that. We don’t want to waste taxpayers’ money. That’s precisely why there was under spending – to make sure that the money we spend will be spent prudently and wisely,” he said.

He reiterated that there was under spending in the first half of the year because the present administration has to clear some processes, do some changes and studies to avoid the mistakes of the past administration.

Lacierda also noted that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad assured the senators this week during a budget hearing that the country could expect increased spending in public infrastructure in the next half of the year after the government initiated the reform measures.

Some senators have raised the necessity for an aggressive spending in the first half of the year to boost the local economy which could protect the country from possible fallout from the U.S. economic slowdown following a credit rating downgrade. (PCOO)

Nagtuo si Presidente Aquino nga makabawi ra usab ang patigayon sa stock market sa nasud ug mobalik pagkusog ang piso kontra dolyar nga mihinay human ang credit downgrade sa Standard and Poors (S & P) sa Amerika.

Pasabot sa Presidente, kahibalo usab ang mga trading partners sa nasud nga bintahe ang pagnegosyo sa Pilipinas.

Nauna nang mihinay ang mga international trading market apil na ang Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) tungod sa paghinay sa major economies sa kalibutan. (PIA-Bohol/ecb)

Sa briefing sa Senate Finance committee kalabot sa balaodnon sa 2012 national budget, miingon si BSP Governor Amando Tetanco Jr. nga bisan moubos ang piso, makabarug ra usab kini.

Ang lig-on nga pagsulod sa remittances sa mga Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), export receipts ug ang igong reserves ang mosuporta sa kalig-on sa piso.

Samtang matud pa usab ni kanhi Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, dili angay magpanik ang gobyerno sa gihimo sa Standard and Poor’s nga pagpaubos sa AAA rating sa Estados Unidos sa AA+ nga maoy pinakaubos nila nga rating sukad niadtong tuig 1917.

Dugang pa ni Diokno, lig-on pa gihapon ang ekonomiya ng US kun itandi sa mga nasud sa Europa o bisan sa China.

Bisan pa niini, gitataw ni Diokno nga angay pa gihapon’g mag-andam ang Pilipinas tungod kay siguradong maigo ang nasud kun mohinay ang ekonomiya sa Amerika ug mao kini ang panahon aron mas hingusgan sa kagamhanan ang domestic economy niini. (PIA-Bohol/ecb)

In an interview in Malacañang, the President said the country’s gross domestic product of 4.8 percent as posted by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) for the first quarter of the year was almost the same as those posted by our neighboring countries and was indicative of the effects of the earthquake that struck Japan in March and the turmoil that rocked the Middle
East in February.

“If we compare our GDP with that of our neighboring countries, we are not that low end. We all have been affected by the Middle East crisis and the earthquake that struck Japan which we all know to be one of our largest trading partner and source of overseas development assistance,” the President said.

He said the government will be able to pump prime the economy for the second quarter of the year by inviting domestic and foreign businesses to invest in the country through the government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) program.

He said this investment program coupled with the lowering of crude and electricity prices is key to reaching our economic growth target for the year. (PCOO)

Base usab sa “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011″, niingon ang UN nga gi bana-banang mo usbaw sa 5.1 porsyento ang gross domestic product (GDP) sa nasud sunod tuig.

Ang GDP ang kinatibuk-ang kantidad sa mga produkto ug serbisyo nga naggikan sa nasud.

Bisan og positibo ang mga migawas nga bana-bana, ang “UN GDP projection” alang sa Pilipinas mas ubos kon itandi sa target sa kagamhanan nga gikan pito hangtud walo ka porsyento’ng paglambo sukad ning tuiga hangtud tuig 2016.

una niini, nagpagawas og kaugalingong bana-bana ang World Bank ug giingong moabot sa lima ka porsyento ang isaka sa atong ekonomiya alang sa tuig 2011 ug 2012.

Bisan pa niini, niingon ang UN nga moabot sa 4.2 porsyento ang inflation rate sa nasud karon ug sa sunod pang tuig.

Matud pa sa UN nga sa tuig 2011 usab gilauman ang paglambo sa atong export revenue. (ecbPIABohol)

The Chief Executive, in an interview on Thursday following the commemoration of the 114th
martyrdom of the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park in Manila said that
businesses in the country will continue to grow gradually improving the unemployment and
underemployment rate for the better.

The President assured that the government has been exhausting necessary steps to
expedite processes in totally solving issues that hamper economic growth.

For instance, the President cited the expansion of an international relationship management
firm in Manila which has five-major expansions throughout the country, the newest in San
Lazaro near the University Belt.

Convergys has provided 20,000 job opportunities for the Filipinos.

“If you remember we went to a company called Convergys not too long ago. They opened a
new facility in San Lazaro. The first day they had to acquire a new office in addition to the one
that they had contracted. From then on, they continue to grow in a period of one month”, the
President said.

“So that I think is a total reference of what we should be expecting”, he added. (PIA/PCOO)

The overall confidence index (CI) was at 50.6% for the period, the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement, up from the 45% recorded for the third quarter and the
22% posted a year earlier.

It said sentiment had been boosted by 3 factors:
• expectations of sustained economic improvements on the back of strong demand
that is being fueled by migrant workers’ remittances and capital inflows;
• the seasonal factor of stronger business sentiment during the Christmas and
harvest seasons; and
• continued confidence in the new government.

“The positive business sentiment likewise mirrored the improving business confidence in
countries such as Canada, Hong Kong, India, Germany, Italy and New Zealand,” the BSP
said.

The outlook for the following quarter, however, dipped. The next quarter CI — for the first
quarter of 2011 — was at 51% from the 59.2% recorded three months earlier.

The BSP survey was conducted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 9. A total of 1,624 firms nationwide were
polled, of which 75.4% responded. (PIA)

In March alone, money sent by Filipinos overseas went up by 5.6% from a year ago to $1.5 billion.

The central bank said money sent home in the first quarter grew on sustained and higher remittances by both land and sea-based workers.

The central bank said in a statement that prospects for global deployment of overseas Filipino workers remain positive, especially as employment opportunities are expected to rise along with clearer signs of global recovery.

Remittances, a major consumption driver, still come mostly from the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

The central bank had previously forecast remittances in 2010 to grow by 8%. In 2009, remittance inflows hit a record $17.3 billion. (PIA-Bohol)

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the country’s export earnings for the third month of 2010 rose to $4.18 billion from the year-ago level of $2.9 billion. On a monthly basis, exports rose 17% from $3.57 billion in February. Overall, exports jumped 42.9 % in the first quarter.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said this is the highest year-on-year increase since the National Statistics Office started compiling monthly exports statistics in 1991.

Shipments of electronics, which dominate exports and are largely assembled from imported parts, climbed 49.1% year-on-year to $2.42 billion in March after a 53.3% jump in February.

The Philippines expects exports to grow 12% and imports to rise 18% in 2010. In 2009, exports fell 21.9%, not as sharp as the government’s forecast drop of 25%.

The main electronics industry group expects shipments to grow 20% or more this year on strong demand from China and India.

The government may consider raising its 2.6%-3.6% economic growth target for 2010 amid a slew of strong indicators this year. (PIA-Bohol)

Exports grew 42.3% year-on-year after a 42.5% rise in the previous month, the National Statistics Office said Tuesday. Economists were looking for a 39.9% increase. Export earnings in February jumped to $3.567 billion from $2.506 billion in the previous year.

However, on a monthly basis, export revenue dropped 0.4% in February. In January, revenue rose 8.1% on a monthly basis.

Electronic products with a revenue share of 58.1% topped the list of exported goods in the country by earning a total revenue of $2.072 billion during the month. Export earnings of electronic goods grew 53.4% year-on-year after 51.2% in January. On a monthly basis, export earnings from electronic goods rose 1.9%, following the 8.1% growth in the previous month.

Semiconductors, accounting for 42.3% of the total export earnings, earned an export revenue of $1.508 billion, up 59.6% compared from the previous period.

Japan emerged as the top export destination for the country, comprising 17.6% share of total exports. Total export earnings from Japan increased 55.4% annually to $627.04 million in February. Exports to the U.S. accounted for 16.9% of the total exports and the revenue stood at $603.83 million. The export value increased 29.5% year-on-year, making it the second largest market for Philippine goods. (PIA-Bohol)