COVID-19 casualty: AirAsia to lay off 12 percent of workers
Budget carrier AirAsia Philippines is laying off hundreds of workers by the end of this month as the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the airline industry to shift to survival mode.…
Lockdown inflation in May seen settling at 2 percent
Inflation was likely to have further slowed down in May as many consumers limited purchases to essentials during an extended lockdown to prevent coronavirus transmission, according to most economists asked…
Raising COVID-19 funds: PH can afford deficit up to only 9 percent of GDP
Despite more funds needed to continue responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the Philippines can afford to widen its budget deficit to only up to 9 percent of gross domestic product…
51 percent of German firms holding back investments in PH, but not because of COVID-19
More than half of German companies are holding back their investments in the Philippines because they find the economy too restrictive, data showed. This is according to a survey done…
IC says HMO profits down by nearly 24 percent in 2019
Profit of the health maintenance organization (HMO) industry fell by almost one-fourth to P1.26 billion in 2019 as more Filipinos signed up for coverage. Citing the latest unaudited interim financial…
Bitter mix: Liquor bans, ECQ bring sin taxes down by nearly 100 percent
Amid a liquor ban in many areas and restricted deliveries of cigarettes during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the government collected only about P200 million in sin taxes from tobacco…
COVID-19 spending plus low collection equals 10,000 percent deficit jump since 2019
Spending on public goods and services more than doubled in April as the government tried to ease the pain inflicted on vulnerable sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic but with barely…
Gov’t borrowings up 5.3 percent to P656.7B in first quarter of 2020
The national government’s gross borrowings rose 5.3 percent year-on-year to P656.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020 as both domestic and foreign debts increased. The latest Bureau of the…
Poor hit hard by 2.9 percent food price inflation amid COVID-19 lockdown
Faster food price inflation amid the COVID-19 lockdown last April hurt the pockets of poor families as they had to shell out more despite many of them losing jobs and…
Economic team dangles 25 percent corporate tax in COVID-19 recovery package
The Philippines’ corporate income tax rate—Asean’s highest, currently at 30 percent—can slide to 25 percent during a one-time, big-time reduction planned in July if Congress will heed the economic team’s…