Filipino traders read newspapers during a lull in trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange at the Makati financial district on Tuesday. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed 44 points or 1.8 percent at 2,413.26. Asian markets fell sharply as worries mount over US financials. AP

Insurers to fight GSIS on CTPL  

Markets decline all around on Fannie, Freddie jitters

HONG KONG—Asian and European stock markets fell sharply Tuesday as investor confidence in the US financial system eroded even further despite a government-backed plan to help beleaguered mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Investor sentiment in RP down to ‘neutral’; index score falls to 110

THE surge in oil and rice prices has dampened investor confidence in the Philippines to “neutral,” the first time in four consecutive quarters, according to the latest ING Investor Dashboard Survey.

P4 billion more for ‘Katas’

PRESIDENT Arroyo said on Tuesday the government would spend another P4 billion from the second-quarter windfall revenues of the value-added tax (VAT) on oil for subsidies to poor power consumers and senior citizens, typhoon-damaged infrastructure, rural hospitals and livelihood loans to families of public-transport workers.

Iraq envoy: Reconstruction to ease global oil crunch

THE government of Iraq said on Tuesday reconstruction efforts in the war-stricken nation are expected to help ease the global crunch of skyrocketing oil prices, adding it has yet to tap some 10 billion barrels of oil reserves.

‘Power-privatization pace must not slow’

SHOULD the government fail to privatize the National Power Corp. (Napocor), as called for under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), the country could suffer a power crisis similar to what it had in the 1990s—with dire consequences for the economy, according to a US-based think tank.

GSIS sued for remitting P1B to Palace in 2004

THE top official of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), along with the board of the agency’s board of trustees, are in hot water after two separate criminal and administrative complaints were filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman by three groups who accused them of illegally remitting P1 billion in unassigned surplus of the Government Insurance Fund to the Office of the President instead of the National Treasury.

Government urged to nix Nama proposals

THE government should reject the latest trade proposals in the Non-Agriculture Market Access (Nama) negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) because it would not only result in lower tariffs, but also cause the Philippines to lose its policy options to protect the fisheries sector.

New export services of $15B forecast

THE National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and the Philippines Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) are confident the export of new services will prop up the country’s merchandise-export performance in two years as they project revenues to reach $15 billion a year until 2010.

5-month remittance level up by 15%

REMITTANCES from millions of overseas Filipinos, one of the few remaining bright spots in the economic landscape, rose by an annual rate of 15.6 percent in March this year to $1.4 billion.