The central bank is reviewing its investable foreign assets which are placed in the Asian Bond Fund (ABF) in view of the regional move to boost market funds and capital.

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) has urged the government to implement the proposed two-tiered wage system to set a competitive minimum salary rate in the country whose rising labor rate has made the Philippines one of the highest in the region and driving away investments in the manufacturing sector.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board recently approved five projects on transportation, infrastructure and health worth P32.67 billion.

The national government posted P31.024 billion budget surplus in April due as double-digit growth in revenue collections are more than enough to support an accelerated spending, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced yesterday.

Hanjin, world’s leading ship manufacturer, is expanding its existing shipyard facility in Subic Freeport cementing the Philippines rank as the world’s fourth largest shipbuilder and construct a 200-megawatt power plant for estimated new investments of up to $700 million.

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The business community is keen on the country's plan for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is led by the US, and urged government to conduct more information campaign about this new trading bloc.

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Business registration in 2011 was up 8 percent over the previous year indicating that more Filipinos are into the entrepreneurial mode this year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Filinvest Land’s planned issuance of P11 billion worth of fixed rate bonds.

Sutherland Global Services, a US-based global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT-enabled services, has granted 10,000 people, including 3,383 from the Philippines, with digital literacy certificates in its 5-year project.

Despite the bad rap it has been getting from “green advocates,” the consensus among global experts and energy leaders is that coal will remain the most popular fuel to satiate the world’s growing energy appetite from now to the medium term.

Buoyed by an expanding client base amidst an encouraging investment climate in the country, the Wealth Management Group of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) looks forward to surpassing yet another ambitious target in the next five years as it closed 2011 with assets under management (AUM) of P51.5 billion, an increase of 28 percent over the previous year.

The country got its first-ever taste of five back-to-back stunts performed by Red Bull Athletes which were spread out across the Philippines in a span of a week before leading up to the grand launch last May 12, 2012 at the Makati Stock Exchange Plaza.

Agri business firm Calata Corporation saw strong demand for its shares from retail and institutional investors with its P270 million initial public offering oversubscribed by 1.7 times.

The Philippines has urged Thailand to comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling over discriminatory tax imposed on the former’s cigarette exports as its fellow ASEAN-member has not implemented any measure yet to settle the issue even as the compliance period already expired early this week.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that the country incurred a balance of payments deficit of $79 million in April this year as the national government settled outstanding foreign obligations.

Philex Petroleum Corp. (PPC), a subsidiary of Philex Mining, said it would start drilling next year at a “potentially massive” natural gas field at a reef in the South China Sea also claimed by China.

Oil extended its losses in Asian trade Friday on growing concerns that the eurozone's debt woes could worsen, causing a global crisis that would ravage energy demand, analysts said.

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