By: Cathrine Gonzales - Inquirer.net Published: September 04,2020 - 12:49 PM Full Article: Inflation eases to 2.4 percent in August Snippets: MANILA, Philippines — The country’s headline inflation eased to 2.4 percent in August from 2.7 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday, September 4, 2020. The latest figure brings the year-to-date inflation for 2020 at 2.5 percent, according to PSA’s report released Friday. In August 2019, inflation was lower at 1.7 percent. “The slowdown in inflation in August 2020 was primarily due to the deceleration in the inflation for the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages which slid at an annual rate of 1.8 percent during the period, from 2.4 percent in the previous month,” PSA said. The actual inflation reported by PSA was slightly lower than the forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for August. BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the agency’s Department of Economic Research projects the inflation rate to settle within the 2.5 to 3.3 percent range for the month. The central bank earlier projected a slight increase in inflation mainly due to recovering petroleum prices after a sharp decline due to low demand during community quarantines. According to the PSA, the indices of the following commodity groups also posted lower inflation during the month: alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 17.7 percent; clothing and footwear at 1.9 percent, furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house at 3.9 percent; education at 0.1 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services at 2.3 percent. “Contributing also to the deceleration in the overall inflation was recreation and culture whose index exhibited an annual decline of -0.1 percent during the period, from an annual gain of 1.1 percent in the previous month,” PSA noted.
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By: KATLENE O. CACHO - Sunstar Cebu Published: September 4, 2020 Full Article: Cebu City falls to 15th spot in 2020 Tholons ranking Snippets: FROM its 12th ranking in 2019, Cebu City fell to the 15th spot in the 2020 Tholons Services Globalization Index (TSGI). Released in July, this year’s Tholons report placed higher emphasis on digital innovation attributes and assessment of how the various cities and countries have managed and are winning over the global crisis during the pandemic. According to Tholons managing director Avinash Vashistha, these new criteria resulted in five new high-cost cities from the west surpassing Cebu City’s ranking. These five new western cities ahead of Cebu City are San Francisco, London, New York, Sydney and Vancouver. “This year we changed the assessment and put a significant emphasis on digital. So there is a greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation and innovation. ... We know you were ranked 12 and now 15. However, seven of the cities (Delhi, Hyderabad, Krakow, Poland, Chennai, Montevideo, Santiago) that were in the Top 15 have now dropped below 15. Cebu has only dropped by three, which means the city has a net improvement based on the last year’s list. This is going to become even tougher as more and more western cities who are leading in innovation even though they are more expensive will continue to be a larger part of the cloud-based services industry,” said Vashistha, in his email to Cebu IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) Organization (Cib.O) former managing director Wilfredo Sa-a, Jr. Manila also suffered a setback this year from ranking second in last year’s list to fourth this year. India’s Bangalore though has maintained its rank as the top super city in the Tholons list. Moroever, the Philippines as country sustained its fifth spot in the Top 50 Digital Nations ranking, after the UK (4th), Brazil (3rd), the US (2nd) and India (1st). The TSGI, which is published annually, ranks the Top 100 “Super Cities” and Top 50 “Digital Nations.” The index evaluates ranks and provides location strategies to multinational corporations, countries, governments, multi-lateral agencies, analysts and investors. CCTO: LEISURE TOURISM. The almost five months of strict lockdown has stalled resort operations in the town of Cordova. But with the downgrade to modified general community quarantine and the reopening of tourism, Solea Mactan Cebu is anticipating more local tourists to stay in its property while complying with safety and health protocol imposed by the government. (SunStar file) By: Sunstar Cebu Published: September 3, 2020 Full Article: Solea Mactan reopens resort, rooms on sale Snippets: BATTERED by the lingering effects of Covid-19, Solea Mactan Cebu is reopening its facilities and putting its rooms on sale to attract local tourists. The eight-hectare property is one of the resort properties that heeded the call of the Cordova local government to reopen its doors to kickstart tourism activities. “We are soft-reopening for now. Hopefully by October we will see better market conditions. We will be fully opened,” said general manager Christopher Benjamin Gothong. Solea Hotel Cebu has about three hotel brands with over 500 rooms inside the sprawling property, namely Solea Seaview (63 rooms), Solea Mactan Cebu (225 rooms) and Solea Palms (254 rooms). At P2,888 per room per night from Monday to Thursday at Solea Mactan Cebu, guests can enjoy both the beach and the amenities of the resort. “We are opening Solea Mactan Cebu for now, but as soon as things get better we will open the two other buildings,” he said. According to Gothong, the resort property was supposed to open its waterpark amenity this year, but was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The group was also scheduled to open its Bohol property in Panglao Island. “The pandemic has halted tourism activities,” said Gothong. The halt of international travel and the closing of borders to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have wreaked havoc on tourism. Some hoteliers in Cebu have been forced to temporarily close business while others operate on a limited scale. By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / @bendeveraINQ Published: August 27,2020 - 02:28 PM Full Article: PH economy seen slow to recover from pandemic’s impact Snippets: The Philippines may have survived the worst impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but recovery seems slower than how its peers fare as infections remain high, UK-based think tanks said on Wednesday. “The economy is likely past the worst. But things have been slow to bounce back. Manufacturing volumes were still down around 20 percent year-on-year at the end of the [second] quarter. In contrast, manufacturing output returned to growth in June in several regional economies,” London-based Capital Economics said in a report. “Meanwhile, the government has failed to contain the virus and daily new infections are the highest in the region outside of India. Reflecting this, Google mobility data show that while the movement of people started to recover in June, activity remains very depressed and is recovering much slower than elsewhere,” Capital Economics added. To recall, the government put back Metro Manila and four surrounding provinces—which accounted for half of economic output—under a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine on Aug. 4-18 as health care workers had sought a “time-out” following a surge in COVID-19 cases in these areas when the economy gradually opened up. Three-fourths of the economic activity were resumed in June as the longest and most stringent COVID-19 lockdown in the region pushed the country into a recession in the first half, contracting by an average of 9 percent from January to June. By: Sunstar Cebu Published: August 27, 2020 Full Article: PCCI: Economic reforms to accelerate recovery Snippets: CEBU CITY, Philippines — Real estate players and experts here in Cebu are divided on the country’s new and slightly improved ranking in real estate transparency. |
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