Business NEWS

The Department of Finance (DOF) is planning to seek 30 billion yen, approximately P13.35 billion, in additional loan from the Japanese government to help fund the country’s ongoing national vaccination program.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Wednesday, Feb. 16, that the investigation of the December 2021 hacking incident involving two of the country’s big banks are about to be finished but he did not say when.

The government’s updated six-year financial inclusion blueprint will have a clear-cut focus on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups, and agriculture financing, said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.

Remittances transferred via the banking networks grew by 5.1 percent to $31.418 billion in 2021 compared to $29.903 billion in 2020 but was off the expected six percent growth for the year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Tuesday, Feb. 15.

The Bureau of the Treasury has raised an initial P120.76 billion well above the P30-billion on offer from the government’s new five-year retail Treasury Bond (RTB) that generated total tenders of P183.44 billion at the launch Tuesday, Feb. 15.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has relaxed and streamlined the rules on the confirmation of the election and appointment of banks and non-banks’ directors, trustees and officers.

The ability of the central bank to dissect “mixed conglomerate structures” which is very challenging for the central bank because of its potential impact on domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs), will be solved by the recent establishment of a comprehensive group-wide supervision of financial conglomerates, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.

Government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) said its net income rose by 27 percent in 2021 to P21.75 billion versus P17.14 billion in 2020 due to lower cost of funds and loan loss provisioning.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said the BSP will maintain its current accommodative policy support to ensure long-term and a self-sustaining economic recovery.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will institutionalize its regulatory sandbox by coming up with a “test and learn” framework for startups and innovators to experiment with new financial products and services in a controlled environment.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno reiterated over the weekend that the passage of amendments to the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 will improve and expand the credit access of farmers, fisherfolk, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture-related and agribusiness sectors.

The government will sell P30 billion, its first retail Treasury bond (RTB) for the year catering to small Filipino savers, the Bureau of the Treasury announced.

Banks offered P158.10 billion for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) 28-day securities on Friday, Feb. 11, versus offer of P120 billion.

The country’s US dollar reserves held by the central bank remained steady at $108.45 billion in January although slightly down by $340 million from $108.79 billion in December 2021 after the National Government (NG) paid its maturing loans last month.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said financial regulators will start its cross-sectoral risk assessment of the country’s financial conglomerates by the second quarter this year.

Banks’ cumulative net profits increased by 44.09 percent to P223.66 billion last year from P155.22 billion in 2020 despite continued restrictions in business activities and lack of jobs.

The banking sector’s soured loans increased by 15 percent to P454.49 billion in 2021 versus P394.87 billion in 2020, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

The country’s net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows jumped 52.5 percent as of November last year to $9.24 billion from $6.06 billion in the same period in 2020.