Manufacturing sustained year-on-year growth in March, before the most stringent lockdown measures were again imposed in Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces that host economic zones and factories to contain the surge in COVID-19 infections. London-based global information provider IHS Markit Ltd. on Monday said the Philippines’ purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slightly eased to 52.2…
Cash is king, it’s often said. And for a long time, it was an undisputed fact of everyday payments in the Philippines. The unprecedented coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however, has prompted consumers to carry less and less cash in their pockets. Due to health-related concerns, social distancing and lockdown protocols, preference for cash payments for…
Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s (RCBC) digital banking platform DiskarTech is rolling out this April a loan marketplace targeting consumers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)—in line with its proposition as a financial inclusion “super app.”DiskarTech—which has registered users, of which about a million had undergone validation as eligible depositors—has also introduced a Visayan…
It is often said—quoting national hero Jose Rizal—that the youth is the hope of the nation. In these difficult times, the country’s recovery from the pandemic-induced recession might as well depend on the young moving about, going shopping and dining out with their families. The country’s chief economist, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua,…
Banks will face an environment of accelerated innovation this year after investing resources to account for last year’s business model changes that were forced on the industry by the coronavirus pandemic, an international consulting firm said over the weekend. In a recently published study, Accenture said the financial services industry was forced to make years’…
The good news is that after a horrible 2020, when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy, this year will be better. The Philippines is expected to exit an economic recession with the reopening of businesses and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine to a critical mass of the population, which should shore…
As the year 2020 came to a close, it was time for businesses to count their wins or losses. And in a year like no other, there were clear winners and losers in telecommunications, media, transport and infrastructure. First were telecoms, which soared as demand for data—already a desired service—exploded during the COVID-19 lockdown. This…
In a country where the government’s response to any crisis is often, for one reason or another, inadequate and found wanting, the responsibility for marshaling resources to bridge the gap between what is available and what is needed often falls on the shoulders of the private sector. And the current pandemic—arguably the biggest public health…
MANILA, Philippines —If there’s a rising tide that lifts all boats, there may also come a time, no matter how rarely, that a tsunami may wreak havoc on anything on its path. The coronavirus pandemic is one such cataclysmic event. While the human race is no stranger to pandemics, the world has never been as…