The Philippine Economic Society (PES) Board of Trustees elected its new set of officers for this year on 15 January 2021. The Board elected the following:

• President: Dr. Faith Christian Q. Cacnio, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
• Vice President: Dr. Charlotte Justine Diokno-Sicat, University of the Philippines-Diliman/Philippine Institute for Development Studies
• Secretary: Dr. Sarah Lynne S. Daway-Ducanes, University of the Philippines-Diliman
• Treasurer: Dr. Kevin C. Chua, World Bank

Also comprising the PES Board are:

On 15-25 March 2021, The Philippine Economic Society (PES) holds an online referendum among its members for the approval of the amendments of its By-laws and Articles of Incorporation.

WITH the economy still in recession and millions still looking for jobs, the recent spike in inflation in January sounded off alarm bells for what could be a very bad economic omen: stagflation.

However, local economists interviewed by the BusinessMirror disagree with this saying that without runaway inflation, or inflation rates of above 50 percent, there could be no stagflation.

Still, most experts interviewed agreed on the need to track the risks that could fan more inflation upticks this year, including global oil markets.

THE economy can no longer stay on lockdown, and prolonging the mobility restrictions would condemn even more Filipinos to poverty and hunger, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a briefing on Thursday, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said this is the economic team’s stance despite the presence of a new Covid-19 strain in the country.

MANILA – Banks need to further increase their lending activities and fiscal measures should be expanded to help boost economic recovery, a former central bank official said.

During the first day of the week-long Philippine Economic Society (PES) annual meeting Monday, former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the central bank has done the heavy lifting to help buoy the domestic economy from the impact of the pandemic.

MOTORCYCLE taxi operators are set to resume their operations in Metro Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro once minimum health and safety protocols that will guide the use of the modern mode of public transportation are put in place by the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Under Memorandum Circular No. 03 issued by the NTF, the DOTr has been authorized to resume the pilot study on the viability of using motorcycle units as a mode of public transportation to ease public commuting woes of the riding public.

President Rodrigo Duterte will most likely place the entire Bicol region, Mimaropa, and Calabarzon under a state of calamity due to the damage caused by super typhoon “Rolly,” Malacanang said Monday, enabling them to tap emergency funds.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) earlier recommended placing the three regions under a state of calamity, after Rolly did at least P14 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure.

State statisticians on Monday lowered the official second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) contraction to -16.9 percent from the earlier -16.5 percent.

“Major contributors to the revision were real estate and ownership of dwellings, from -20.1 percent to -29.7 percent; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles from -13.1 percent to -13.9 percent; and financial and insurance activities from 6.8 percent to 5.4 percent,” said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in a report.

The country’s chief economist on Monday said resuming businesses up to full capacity would fast-track economic recovery before year’s end as availability of more jobs would also perk up consumer confidence.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told the Philippine Economic Society’s annual conference that the economic team was pushing to impose shorter curfew hours as well as multiple work shifts so that more consumers and workers could contribute to the economy.