Fitch team to visit Manila; officials hopeful of upgrade A TEAM from debt watcher Fitch Ratings will be visiting the Philippines later this month to get an update on domestic economic developments, with officials hopeful of a ratings upgrade. Claro P. Fernandez, executive director of the central bank’s Investor Relations Office, said the team, to be led by Fitch Ratings Asia-Pacific Sovereigns head Andrew Colquhoun, would be in Manila from March 29 to 31 to meet with economic managers, officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and representatives of the private sector. "This is a regular due diligence visit of Fitch which they usually do every year," Mr. Fernandez said in a text message. He added, however, that: "The economic team is hoping that this visit will convince Fitch to improve our ratings, similar to what other rating agencies have done last year." Fitch currently has a BB credit rating -- two notches below investment grade -- on the Philippines’ long term foreign currency debt. Moody’s Investors Service, which has a Ba3 credit rating for the country -- three notches below investment grade -- in January raised its outlook on Philippines to positive from stable. Last November, meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s raised the country’s long term foreign currency credit rating one notch to BB stable from a BB-. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., in a separate text message, said: "[This month’s discussions will] probably be the usual, economic outlook especially with recent events." The economy grew by 7.3% last year, beating the government’s 5-6% target. The government has officially set a higher 7-8% goal for 2011 but officials have also pointed to a lower 5% used in setting the year’s budget. Multilateral institutions have issued lower outlooks of around 5% and government officials have said the 7-8% goal would depend on public-private partnership (PPP) investments being realized. Central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr., in an e-mail, said: "On the monetary front, discussions will dwell on inflation given the February number and the continuous spike in oil and other commodity prices and what BSP is doing to maintain stable prices ... [and] ensure an environment conducive to growth." The National Statistics Office on Friday said inflation had accelerated to 4.3% in February from January’s 3.6%, exceeding the central bank’s 3-4.1% forecast for the month. The BSP is now expected to start raising its interest rates -- kept unchanged since July 2009 -- on March 24. Mr. Tetangco said the country deserves a credit rating upgrade, noting last year’s economic performance as well as prospects for 2011. "I believe the Philippines deserves a rating upgrade from Fitch. The economy’s resilient performance ... the strong recovery last year with a 7.3% GDP (gross domestic product) growth realized... should all be credit rating positives," he said. -- L. D. Desiderio
Two Metro Manila light railways will be up for privatization and three expressway contracts will also be up for bidding, Transportation Undersecretary Ruben S. Reinoso, Jr. told BusinessWorld. Operation and maintenance contracts for the Light Rail Transit-1 (LRT-1) and the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) lines will be up for sale, he said. The road projects to be declared "open for bidding," meanwhile, involve the linking of the Daang Hari Road and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), another link between the SLEx and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), and the second phase of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said. The projects, which will cost a total of P47.19 billion, will be spearheaded by the Transportation and Public Works departments as implementing agencies, said Claro P. Fernandez, chief of the central bank’s Investor Relations Office. Mr. Reinoso said, "They (the five projects) are the ones ready to be marketed and advertised" among the 10 slated PPP undertakings this year. Final bidding dates will "depend on market reaction" to the projects, he added. According to the PPP website (www.ppp.gov.ph), the LRT-1 and MRT-3 auctions aim to transfer "operation and maintenance" to the private sector within three to four years. The LRT-1 deal comes with a P7.7-billion price tag while that of the MRT-3 is P6.3 billion. The Daang Hari-SLEx link, which will cost P1.6 billion, is a 3.68-kilometer road that will pass through the New Bilibid Prison reservation and connect Bacoor, Cavite to the South Luzon Expressway near the Susana Heights area. The NAIA Expressway phase two project, meanwhile, will "link Skyway and the Manila-Cavite Coastal Expressway" to provide "additional access to NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3." It will cost P10.59 billion. The NLEx-SLEx link costing P21 billion, lastly, includes the construction of an "elevated expressway" over the Philippine National Railway right of way which "starts at Caloocan City and ends at Makati City," the website states. Mr. Singson said auctions for the Daang Hari-SLEx link and the NAIA expressway projects are being eyed "by May". No dates have been set for the NLEx-SLEx undertaking given an unsolicited proposal that will have to undergo a Swiss challenge, he added. The government will announce timelines for each of the five projects during today’s launch of the PPP Center in Makati, Mr. Fernandez said. |
Stocks: It's all about oil NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's simple: Oil is all that matters at the moment. The story of quickly-rising energy prices has captured Wall Street's attention in recent weeks. The Dow rallied 190 points Thursday amid positive economic data and modest declines in oil prices only to have a chunk of those gains erased the next day as crude oil prices jumped above $104 a barrel. And no market-moving companies are scheduled to report quarterly results. A possible U.S. government shutdown has been averted for at least two weeks as well. "Because it's going to be politically and economically silent, oil's movements are going to speak very loudly," said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. Jobs can't save the zombie stock market High crude oil prices matter to investors because they become effectively a tax on the American consumer and can weigh heavily on consumer spending. Investors said any positive economic data they've gotten recently, including last week jobs figures, will matter little if oil continues to rise. "Oil is the issue in the market at the moment," said Arne Espe, a fund manager with USAA. "The higher it goes, the more direct impact it has on this fragile recovery we're in." Monday: Urban Outfitters (URBN) is one of a handful of names reporting on Monday, releasing its earnings after the closing bell. The retail chain is expected to earn 52 cents per share, according to Briefing.com On the economic front, the Federal Reserve will release January's consumer credit data at 3 p.m. ET. Tuesday: After the closing bell, Boston Beer Co (SAM)., the maker of Samuel Adams beer, and retailer J. Crew (JCRW) will release their quarterly results. There is no economic data scheduled for release. The only nugget of economic data out on Wednesday is the Commerce Department's wholesale inventories report at 10 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for wholesale inventories to rise on average 1% in January, according to Briefing.com. Thursday: Wall Street will get weekly initial jobless claims and the U.S.'s trade balance for January at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for weekly jobless claims to rise to 382,000 claims from this week's 368,000 claims while economists expect the U.S. trade deficit to widen to $41.5 billion in January. There are no major companies reporting earnings Thursday. Friday: The Commerce Department will release its February retail sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET and the University of Michigan will put out its monthly consumer sentiment survey at 9:55 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for retail sales to rise 1% from last month's rise of 0.3% while the University of Michigan survey is expected to fall slightly to a reading of 76.5 from last month's 77.5. No major companies report their earnings on Friday as well. |
Crude Oil Advances to a 29-Month High as Libya Unrest Threatens to Spread Crude in New York increased to a 29- month high on concern unrest in Libya will spread to other North African and Middle East energy exporters, curbing shipments. Oil rose 2.5 percent as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sent troops to recapture towns in the western part of the country and prepared to quash protests in the capital, Tripoli. Prices also advanced on signals U.S. economic growth is accelerating. The nation’s jobless rate fell to 8.9 percent, the lowest level since April 2009, a government report showed. “Unrest in Libya continues to fuel concerns about supplies,” said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy, a Stamford, Connecticut-based broker. “We’re facing a weekend amid a drumbeat of instability. Nobody wants to be short when there could be a major disruption over the next two days.” Crude oil for April delivery increased $2.51 to $104.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 26, 2008. The contract rose 6.7 percent this week, the third straight advance, and is up 30 percent from a year ago. Brent crude for April settlement rose $1.18, or 1 percent, to end the session at $115.97 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract gained 3.4 percent this week, the sixth straight weekly increase. |
Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, www.inquirer.net, www.philstar.com, www.bworldonline.com, www.cnnmoney.com
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