BusinessWorld
February 15, 2021 | 12:32 am
AGRICULTURE exports may see a rebound this year. PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE EXPORT INDUSTRY is expecting the agriculture sector to lead some export recovery this year, while manufacturing growth will remain slow.
Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said that while he is hoping agriculture exports could grow, shipments of big-ticket items like electronics to other countries will continue to be strong.
“If regulations can be fixed, we hope mining ore exports could grow too,” he said in mixed English and Filipino in a phone interview on Feb. 4.
These mining exports could serve as substitutes, he said, while most other exports are down because of low demand in the global market.
MANILA, Feb. 14 The labor department renewed its bid to free more than half a million children who are into child labor and its worst forms amid reports that cases of child labor spiked despite the restrictions due to the pandemic.
Atty. Ma. Karina Trayvilla, director of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns, said that while DOLE has yet to receive latest official data on the number of young Filipinos engaged in child labor, the government is nonetheless bent on removing about 630,000 of them from such condition by 2022.
“We understand that one of the root causes of child labor is poverty, but we are doubling our efforts to eliminate this. We have encountered difficulties in the implementation of the program due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now we are ready to intensify the profiling of children in the country,” Trayvilla said.
BusinessWorld
February 15, 2021 | 12:01 am
YIELD TRACKER
YIELDS ON government securities (GS) went up last week as inflation continued to pick up to reach a two-year high in January.
GS yields, which move opposite to prices, rose by a week-on-week average of 6.13 basis points (bps), based on the BVAL Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing Systemâs website as of Feb. 11.
Financial markets were closed on Friday in observance of Chinese New Year.
Yields on benchmark tenors increased on Thursday from their Feb. 5 finish, except for those on the 91- and 182-day Treasury bills (T-bills), which declined by 6.64 bps and 5.55 bps, respectively, to 0.9744% and 1.1489%.
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Published February 13, 2021 11:54am The Department of Agriculture on Saturday launched a multibillion-peso program with twin goals of reviving the African swine fever-hit hog industry, and ensuring that the disease will not further spread. In a statement, the DA said Agriculture Secretary William Dar launched the national hog repopulation and “Bantay sa ASF sa Barangay” program in Batangas City. As a partnership, the program has as it stakeholders the local government units, private sector, and veterinary and hog raisers groups. It has a combined public and private investments of P29.6 billion, aimed at effectively arresting spread of the ASF and reviving the badly-hit swine industry, according to the DA.