OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Bloomberg and online news last Tuesday reported a closing rate of ₱58.27 to a dollar, nearly the same level it did on Nov. 8, 2022, and the worst in 18 months. BSP Governor Eli Remolona emailed media to explain that “the peso weakened beyond ₱58 to the US dollar...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Let me share some excerpts from my most recent In Brief piece for GlobalSource Partners this week. I thought we need to do a deep dive into the latest twist in China’s bullying of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea because of its economic...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT There could not have been a more inspiring message from the IMF’s April 2024 World Economic Outlook than the global economy’s avoidance of a recession in 2023. With a strong financial system, steady capital flows to emerging markets, some downtrend in inflation, the Fund...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Not a few market players and observers were unnerved when the Philippine peso breached ₱57 to a dollar last April 17, the lowest at that time since November 2022. It was good BSP Governor Eli Remolona tried to calm the market by saying that those movements are something we...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Last Friday, we paid our last respects for Donato “Mang Nato” Gonzales, our loyal driver of 15 years. He started working with the family in his mid-50s but he stood tall in his crew cut and with a built honed in the gym. He had a stern face, he rarely smiled, but he was...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT During the second review of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) monetary policy last Monday, the Monetary Board decided on what was obvious. The BSP maintained its policy rate at a 16-year high 6.5 percent, the fourth since that off-cycle meeting in October 2023 that...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It was reported last Monday that securing an “A” sovereign credit rating by the end of the Marcos Jr Administration in 2028 “may be difficult as persistent underspending and the lack of reforms to improve revenue generation continue to constrain the Philippines’...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT We are going through the Lent season this week. Some will find it strange but there are Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic churches that read the scriptural account of Zacchaeus on the penultimate Sunday of the Pre-Lenten Season. They even call that Sunday Zacchaeus...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT During the Spanish Inquisition between 1478 and 1834, religious activities were above the law. The Inquisition even transformed into a judicial institution in order to combat what the royal throne considered heresy in Spain. Under the Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada,...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Business activities are judged based on, among other key indicators, the strength of both market support and resistance. Fundamental factors could drive the dynamics in the local bourse like the uptick in inflation in February 2024 that pulled down the bellwether index by as...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT In one of the episodes of Karen Davila’s ANC talk show about three weeks ago, former NEDA Director General and Socio-Economic Planning Secretary “Mareng” Winnie Monsod clarified a few important points critical to the issue of Charter Change. First, she questioned...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Last week, some think tanks observed that the monetary authorities are becoming less hawkish based on their policy statement, that references to keep monetary policy sufficiently tight “is completely gone” and that keeping it steady is emerging to be the norm. Economists...
