The growth was led by net borrowings of both the private and public sectors. External debt refers to all . . . → Read More: More rice and more debt]]> Philippine outstanding external debt approved/registered by the central bank stood at US$55.4 billion at the end of March, up around 4.1% from the US$53.3 billion level as of end-2009, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed Tuesday.

The growth was led by net borrowings of both the private and public sectors. External debt refers to all types of borrowings by Philippine residents from non-residents that were approved or registered by the BSP.

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Rice imports by the Philippines, the world’s top buyer, may surge 24 percent this year after a typhoon in 2009 cut production, government figures show.

The Philippines will import 2.47 million metric tons of rice this year, a figure comprised of both government and private sector purchases, according to Jose Cordero, an assistant administrator at the Philippines’ National Food Authority. The agency is tasked with ensuring food security through procurement of rice and buffer stocking.

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Frisco Malabanan, director of the Department of Agriculture’s national rice program, said the entire requirement to achieve self-sufficiency in rice by 2013 might even reach P15 billion.

However, the outgoing administration . . . → Read More: Rice and nurses]]> The Philippines, the world’s largest rice importer, needs to invest more than P12 billion in 2011 to boost paddy yield and minimize dependence on already-tight global supplies.

Frisco Malabanan, director of the Department of Agriculture’s national rice program, said the entire requirement to achieve self-sufficiency in rice by 2013 might even reach P15 billion.

However, the outgoing administration allocated only P3.1 billion in 2010 for the national rice program, where the flagship project is to expand the areas planted to hybrid rice.
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Business Inquirer

The falling cost of dollar borrowing for the Philippines, helped by rising remittances, may prompt President-elect Benigno Aquino to raise funds overseas to cover a record budget deficit, according to BPI Asset Management.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows the yield on the 8.375 percent dollar note due in June 2019 has dropped to a record low as cash transfers from overseas Filipinos climb. The yield on 10-year peso bonds was 7.96 percent on June 25, almost 300 basis points more than the rate on the U.S.-currency notes. The lower panel illustrates the monthly budget, with the deficit in the five months ended May exceeding the ceiling for the first half.

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The absence of demand from the world’s biggest rice buyer, the Philippines, would further weigh on Asian rice prices, with benchmark Thai rice already $100 off . . . → Read More: Rice drop, calamity in Mindanao and hot money]]> Rice prices in top exporting countries Thailand and Vietnam may fall more as the Philippines may not tender for new supplies until after national polls in May, sources said on Friday.

The absence of demand from the world’s biggest rice buyer, the Philippines, would further weigh on Asian rice prices, with benchmark Thai rice already $100 off a December peak of $630 a ton, which was boosted by several tenders in Manila in 2009.

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The Philippines saw a net inflow of “hot money” in February, a reversal of the net outflow in the same month the previous year, as investor sentiment turns from bearish to bullish given projections of a global economic recovery in 2010.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said foreign currency-denominated portfolio investments that were taken out of the country in February amounted to $361.8 million, but this was outweighed by the $500.4 million in inflows.

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President Arroyo gave the go-ahead to local governments in Mindanao to use their calamity funds for cash and livelihood aid for farmers in areas severely affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

Mrs. Arroyo also told reporters here late Thursday that government financial institutions like the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines have offered to provide loan facilities of as much $100 million to private firms that need to lease generator sets to keep their businesses going.

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“We need deep and early cut of carbon.”

Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez, in his visit to Davao City yesterday (February 17) urged the business sector in the city to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.

Although he clarified that the country is not a carbon maker but a carbon taker, he also stressed that Filipinos should . . . → Read More: Carbon,VAT,Rice and no power]]>

“We need deep and early cut of carbon.”

Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez, in his visit to Davao City yesterday (February 17) urged the business sector in the city to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.

Although he clarified that the country is not a carbon maker but a carbon taker, he also stressed that Filipinos should do their own share of creating a low carbon community.

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President Arroyo extolled the value-added tax (VAT) as having enabled the country to depend less on foreign funding such as the almost $5-billion, 300-kilometer paved coastal road running across eastern Mindanao linking the backwater areas of three provinces that she formally inaugurated on Wednesday.

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The Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, will allow private companies to buy 200,000 metric tons, boosting purchases to a record this year, a National Food Authority official said.

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The southern Philippine island of Mindanao may experience power shortages in May, including on the May 10 general elections, data from National Grid Corp. showed.

The Mindanao grid may have a supply deficiency of as much as 144 megawatts in a day in May and a shortage of about 4 megawatts on May 10, data showed. National Grid runs the country’s high-voltage power transmission network.

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The Philippines’ budget deficit widened to a record 298.5 billion pesos ($6.5 billion) in 2009 — around 3.9% of gross domestic product — due to increased spending to stimulate the economy amid the global recession and a slew of tax breaks that reduced revenue.

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