July 7-8, 2009

1. July 7-8, 2009 BANKING AND FINANCE NEWS June inflation seen at 1.6 percent (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Jul 7 WEIGHED DOWN BY SOFTENING consumer demand inflation likely slowed further to an annual rate of 1.6 percent in June. This was according to investment bank Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) which said that although oil prices were picking up in June, these were still way lower than year ago-levels. Average oil price in the world market stood at $72 a barrel last month compared to the $137 a barrel in the same period a year ago, it said. Oil falls below $65 on economic concerns (Business World) Jul 7 PERTH - Oil fell to a five-week low of below $65 a barrel yesterday, after posting three weeks of losses, as doubts over the prospects of an early global economic recovery encouraged investors to take profit. US crude for August delivery fell around 50 cents by 0319 GMT from prices in late electronic trade on Friday and was down $1.75 to $64.9S a barrel from Thursday’s close. London Brent crude fell $0.70 to $64.91 adding to Friday’s losses of $1.04. Copper down 1% on economic worries but outlook supports Jul 7 SHANGHAI – Copper prices in London and Shanghai fell nearly 1%, extending declines from last week as investors remained skeptical about a speedy recovery in the global economy but losses were curbed by an improving demand outlook. NATIONAL AND ECONOMIC NEWS State-of-the-Nation to tackle economy, education – Palace (Business World) Jul 7 PRESIDENT GLORIA Macapagal-Arroyo will discuss her last State of the Nation Address (SONA) with the Cabinet in Malacañang today. The SONA to be delivered by Mrs. Arroyo in the joint session of Congress in the Batasang Pambansa in Ouezon City on July 27 is expected to dwell mainly on the economy and education. BSP mulls new funding scheme for P40-B capitalization needs (Manila Bulletin) Jul 7 The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas BSP is looking at a new alternative structure to raise P40 billion to recapitalize the central bank. Based on documents submitted to the Monetary Board last week, proposals include selling BSP subscription receivables to the National Government to raise the funds. The BSP also proposed new schemes not only to the capitalization program but also on the cost management of such exercise such as issue management fees and other expenses relating to the sale of BSP subscription receivables. BSP seen to cut policy rates by another 25 bps (The Philippine Star) Jul 7 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is widely expected to cut its policy rates by another 25 basis points this Thursday rounding up what the market said could be the last of the series of rate cuts that started in December last year. The Monetary Board (MB) is scheduled to conduct its regular policy setting meeting this week amid declining inflation rate benign money supply growth and an impending economic recession. Local shares close higher (Manila Bulletin) Jul 7 Local share prices closed 0.73 percent higher yesterday as signs of easing inflation fuelled investor hopes that the central bank would trim its key interest rates further this week, dealers said. The composite index added 17.76 points to 2,449.10 while the all shares index rose 8.87 points or 0.57 percent to 1,568.82.

2. July 7-8, 2009 NATIONAL AND ECONOMIC NEWS Customs posts P5.2-B shortfall (Business Mirror) Jul 7 THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported a wider collection shortfall in June against target after its biggest collection points failed to deliver, preliminary figures show. The BOC reported a collection shortfall of P5.2 billion for June after collecting only P20.7 billion as against its target of P25.9 billion. Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the country imported less for the period and that authorities assigning the agency’s, target the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) should consider this in the computation of the agency’s collection assumptions. Bank deposits grow 15 percent in Q1 (Malaya) Jul 7 TOTAL deposits of banks grew by almost 15 percent during the first quarter of this year as people opted to save than spend due to the uncertainties brought by the economic slowdown. According to the latest report of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), banks total deposits as of end March 2009 amounted to P3.1 trillion, 14.8 percent higher than the year-ago level of P2.7 trillion. N. Mindanao exports drop by half in 1st quarter (Business World) Jul 7 CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - Northern Mindanao’s exports dropped almost 58% to $92.4 million in the first quarter of 2009 from $218.9 million during the same period last year, data from the regional office here of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) showed. July inflation eases to 22-yr low at 1.5pc; eyes on BSP rate cut (Manila Bulletin, July 8) Inflation drops to 22-year low in June (Inquirer) Jul 8 CONSUMER PRICES ROSE AT THEIR SLOWEST pace in 22 years in June giving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas room to cut rates further when its policy making Monetary Board meets tomorrow. The National Statistics Office yesterday reported that the annual inflation rate last month eased to 1.5 percent from 3.3 percent in May. Philippine economy remains resilient, Isla Lipana book says (Malaya) Jul 8 THE Philippine economy remains resilient despite the global economic crisis due to good government policies and continued investments of the private sector. The audit and advisory firm said that this is because the government was able to provide a stable policy environment conducive to both local and foreign investors while the private sector continues to put more money in their businesses. INDUSTRY NEWS Jul 8 SEC hikes preneed trust-fund deposits (Manila Times) Higher Pre-need deposits (Manila Standard Today) Pre-need sector rules tightened further (Business World) SEC raises required pre-need trust fund contributions to 60% (Manila Bulletin) The SEC has come up with a memorandum circular drastically raising the minimum trust fund contribution rates for pre-need corporations to 50 percent to 60 percent from just 5 percent of total amount collected. SEC memorandum circular no. 10 revised Rules 16.2 and 16.3 of the New Rules on the Registration and Sale of Pre-Need Plans. It will take effect on July 15, 2009 after publication in two newspapers.