LOCAL EQUITIES declined on Thursday on increased selling after Fitch Ratings put the United States’ debt on negative watch amid a lack of progress in their debt limit discussions.The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 55.73 points or 0.84% to 6,560.22 on Thursday, while

BW FILE PHOTO PRODUCTIVITY growth is improving but remains below pre-pandemic levels, pointing to the need for more effective policy action to encourage rising productivity, the central bank said.In its latest Monetary Policy Report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said: “Given the upward trend in

THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it expects to award the contract for a solar farm in New Clark City within the year, with the bid process currently in the post-qualification evaluation stage.“We’re just doing post-qualification for a 25-megawatt (MW) solar farm,” BCDA

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it invested about P300 billion in improving the power transmission system since taking it over in 2009.In a statement, NGCP added that it paid $3.95 billion for the concession, formerly held by state-owned National Transmission Corp.

PHILSTARFISH landed at regional fish ports grew 7.98% by volume quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said.In a bulletin, the PFDA said volumes amounted to 118,419.49 metric tons (MT).The General Santos Fish Port Complex

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it approved the release of P25.16 billion for the insurance premiums of qualified indigents enrolled with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).The release will cover one year of premiums for around 8.4 million indigents.“Indigent persons are those

PHILSTARTOURISM trade fair participation has generated over P3 billion in business leads, the Department of Tourism (DoT) said.“We have ushered in no less than P3.33 billion in estimated sales leads generated out of the various international expos that we have participated in,” Tourism Secretary Maria

PHILSTARPRODUCTION of palay, or unmilled rice, rose 2.6% year on year to 5.02 million metric tons (MT) in the first quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).“Year on year, this quarter’s palay production when deseasonalized was higher by 157.01 thousand (MT) or by 3.2%

THE House of Representatives has passed 31 out of 42 priority measures identified by the Marcos administration, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said. “We are proud of our collective accomplishment — 31 out of 42 and counting. As of today, we have achieved a significant part

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needs to build resilience against future public health crises by raising investment in health and nutrition, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said. “Providing adequate healthcare services within and across the ASEAN community is a challenge, given interconnections of access