Philippine Markets: 01 June 2011

01 June 2011

USD/PhP: 43.195 (As of 12:00pm) PSEi: 4,286.46 + 41.82
USD/JPY: 81.23 PFINC: 952.44 + 7.27
EUR/USD: 1.4423 BDO: 57.65 - 0.85
GBP/USD: 1.6466 BPI: 57.30 + 1.65
PDSTF3M: 2.6981 MBT: 70.00 + 1.00
Prices as of 12:00pm Source: Bloomberg, Reuters


Philippine Transportation Secretary De Jesus Quits, ABS-CBN Says
2011-06-01 03:39:35.441 GMT


By Cecilia Yap
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Philippine Transportation and
Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus tendered his resignation
due to personal reasons, ABS-CBN News Channel reported on its
website, citing Undersecretary Dante Velasco.

News Analysis: Slowdown in Philippine Q1 growth puts year-round
2011-06-01 03:58:23.549 GMT


MANILA, May 31, 2011 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- By Alito L. Malinao
Philippine economic growth in the first quarter of 2011
has slowed down to 4.9 percent compared to the same period of
last year putting the country's goal of achieving a 7 percent
to 8 percent year-round growth in jeopardy.
The latest figure is a big drop from last year's same
period when the economy, still under the administration of then
President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo, grew by 8. 4 percent.
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)
attributed the downtrend to the government's underspending and
the slowdown in global trade.
Compared with the previous three months, the economy grew
by only 1.9 percent. This was the lowest expansion of the
Philippine economy since 2009.
The Aquino administration reiterated on Tuesday, the
following day of the release of the first quarter economic
datum, that the government would adhere to its 7-8 percent
growth target for the entire year.
Secretary of the Presidential Communications Development
and Strategic Ramon Carandang said,"attaining 7-8 percent
growth this year is not impossible."
But, Jun Neri of Bank of the Philippine Islands in Manila
said that the target is difficult to achieve, adding that the
government must step up on its spending program, particularly
in infrastructure, to help neutralize some of the negative
impact arising from the Middle East developments as well as the
disaster in Japan.
Thousands of Filipino overseas workers have been forced to
return to the Philippines when civil unrest engulfed Tunisia,
Egypt, Yemen and Libya, hosts to Filipino expatriate workers.
Other Southeast Asian countries also expanded moderately,
some even lower than that of the Philippines.
For example, Thailand, the region's second largest
economy, grew only by 3.0 percent from a year earlier while
Malaysia expanded by 4.6 percent for the same period, slightly
lower than that of the Philippines.
The top performer in the region was Singapore whose
economy grew by 8.5 percent in the first quarter from a year
earlier, a big leap from the government forecast of only 4 to 5
percent surge.
According to the Central Bank of Singapore, the island-
nation's expansion was triggered by remarkable growth in its
manufacturing sector, putting Singapore on track as the world's
second fastest growing economy, next only to China.
Indonesia, the region's largest economy, also grew by 6.5
percent in the first quarter.
According to Indonesian Finance Minister Agus
Martowardojo, his country expects its growth momentum to
accelerate to an average pace of 6.40 percent to 6.80 percent
by 2013.
Martowardojo said that Indonesia's economy had gained
momentum from domestic demand and favorable global conditions.
The government expects the resource-rich archipelago of
240 million people to grow 6.40 percent this year after
expanding 6.10 percent in 2010 when it became among the best
performing economies in the Group of 20 nations.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund has urged
Indonesia to slash expensive fuel subsidies and redirect the
money into building badly needed infrastructure to spur long-
term growth.
Analysts said that governments in the region would have to
boost spending to achieve its annual growth target as exports
could be hit by falling Japanese demand in the aftermath of the
March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
Although some countries in the region have lower-than-
expected growths, they are still within the forecast of both
the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. The two
financial institutions have predicted that the region would
grow by an average of 4-5 percent in the five-year period
starting this year.


BDO UNIBANK, INC.

Jonathan Ravelas
Chief Market Strategist
(632) 858-3145

Rhys Cruz
Junior Researcher
(632) 858-3001