The Philippine peso fell to another record low on Wednesday as expectations of a more hawkish US Federal Reserve (Fed) bolstered the dollar, while investors awaited the next policy move of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The local currency shed 27.1 centavos from its previous finish to end the trading session at 63.361, data

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. firmly stated that the agency’s recent decision to block a rice shipment from Vietnam last month aimed to safeguard the farm sector against illicit transactions. Tiu Laurel said he is exploring legal options, such as filing a case, after weeks of a misinformation campaign seeking to remove

MANILA, Philippines — Hotel101 Global, the Nasdaq-listed hospitality subsidiary of DoubleDragon Corp., is positioning itself in Africa by building one of Egypt’s largest hotels, with a project value pegged at P6.44 billion. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said its unit had signed definitive agreements with WNTR Property & Hospitality, an affiliate of Egyptian conglomerate

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) has signed the long-delayed joint administrative order (JAO) aimed at addressing port congestion, but it has yet to take effect as it awaits approval from other government agencies. Finance Undersecretary Rolando Ligon confirmed to reporters that the DOF had signed the JAO last week. It gave the other

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine agriculture sector may incur P20 billion in losses due to a potentially strong El Niño expected by early 2027, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). “With values up now and it is a super El Niño, we expect losses to reach P20 billion,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

MANILA, Philippines — A more aggressive half-point increase in the policy rate of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) merits “serious consideration” to help anchor inflation expectations and contain the risk of further price increases, New York-based GlobalSource Partners said. In a note on Wednesday, Diwa Guinigundo and Wilhelmina Manalac, analysts at GlobalSource, warned that fast-rising

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has secured more than $100 million in investment pledges for the agriculture sector during a global event staged by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome last week. The amount is nearly double the country’s target of $57.4 million in agricultural investments pitched by the government at the

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s energy chief refuted claims of “unfair” coal mine bidding, as Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) had alleged that the rules were designed to exclude it from the auction. “If that’s the implication, [but] it’s the same rules for everyone. If you qualified based on our rules, it’s not because we’re

MANILA, Philippines — Vingroup, the Vietnamese conglomerate behind electric vehicle (EV) brand VinFast, is investing $500 million to establish a manufacturing facility in the Philippines, with plans to serve both the domestic and export markets. The planned factory will have an initial production capacity of 200,000 vehicles annually. READ: Gov’t unveils P60-B incentive to pitch PH

MANILA, Philippines — MediCard is expecting its healthcare claims cost per member to grow by only single digits this year, as it banks on its upgraded MediGo app to expand access to care and encourage earlier treatment to help keep medical costs in check. This comes as the health maintenance organization launched the upgraded MediGo

MANILA, Philippines — A group of meat importers has pushed back against an initial inquiry by the Department of Agriculture (DA) on additional tariff measures, saying this will stoke food inflation and disrupt raw material supplies for local food manufacturers. The Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) is urging the DA to end its ongoing investigation

MANILA, Philippines — Manila and Tokyo might conclude negotiations to update their bilateral trade agreement this month, potentially paving the way for even more favorable tariffs on Philippine exports entering the Japanese market. Among the products Manila is seeking duty-free access for are bananas, which currently face an 8-percent tariff during Japan’s summer season and 18

Receivers of the Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel and the Four Points by Sheraton have agreed to sell the dual-branded complex, which together comprise the city’s third-largest hotel by room count, for HK$2.7 billion (US$344 million), Shimao Group announced on Thursday. In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the distressed mainland Chinese developer said the buyer was Oceanfront Hong Kong Limited. The complex was seized by receivers after Shimao failed to sell it despite slashing the...

A slew of market-stabilising measures unveiled by the head of China’s securities regulator this week has won praise from investors, despite the fact that mainland stock prices did not roar back over the following days. The focus on supporting stocks and investor confidence over the long term, rather than deploying contingency actions to deal with short-term market turmoil, signalled a much-needed shift in Beijing’s strategy, industry players said. Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities...

Hong Kong’s largest landlords and developers could get their first formal route into the rising student accommodation market after the government announced plans to tender land for a purpose-built student hostel this quarter, according to analysts. Development Secretary Bernadette Linn Hon-ho announced on Thursday the inclusion of a 1,100 square metre (11,840 square foot) site for student accommodation as one of two land tenders in the October to December quarter. The plot – at the junction of...

BEIJING/HONG KONG - A photo of a home-cooked lunch almost exposed Coco Li's secret.

TAT celebrated Virgin Atlantic's inaugural London Heathrow–Phuket flight, enhancing UK-Phuket access and encouraging longer stays and regional exploration.

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed two criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 14, 2026, involving combined assessed tax liabilities of ₱45.07 million for taxable years 2017 and 2018. The BIR filed one complaint against Interserve Management & Manpower Resources, Inc. (IMMRI) and its responsible corporate officers,

MANILA, Philippines — The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is making P1.69 billion in emergency loans available to members and pensioners affected by the dengue outbreak in Albay and Naga and the El Niño phenomenon in Camarines Norte. In a statement, GSIS said 68,506 active members and pensioners in the three areas are eligible for the

MANILA, Philippines — Consumers in the Visayas may face power outages on Wednesday as the grid operator declared another red alert due to a tight electricity supply and high demand. In an advisory, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the red alert would be in effect from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., while

Tesla has agreed a deal to integrate Chinese fintech giant Ant Group’s Alipay digital payment software into its vehicles in China, as Elon Musk’s firm steps up efforts to offer localised smart features amid intense competition in the Chinese market. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, will see Tesla roll out an Alipay-powered smart parking service across its Chinese fleet, according to the fintech firm. Neither side revealed a launch date or which car models would receive the feature, though...

The US government’s latest ban on Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could have a chilling effect on the wider American business community and deter companies from adopting low-cost Chinese AI models, industry experts say. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their IT systems, according to a directive signed in July and published on Monday. The...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is allocating P1.62 billion for the Expanded National Greening Program (NGP) under the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027.

Hong Kong has vowed to engage more international banks in a debt securities clearing system, as part of a wider push to develop the city into a leading global yuan trading hub. “Hong Kong is actively promoting a number of measures to advance the city’s offshore yuan market to higher and deeper levels,” said Michael Wong Wai-lun, the city’s deputy financial secretary, during a Hong Kong event related to the Financial Street Forum on Wednesday. On the infrastructure side, Wong said the government...

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine peso fell deeper into the 63-per-dollar territory on Wednesday, ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) next rate-setting meeting. The local currency opened at 63.01 against the greenback before posting an intraday low of 63.3 as of 12:34 p.m., data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed. READ: Peso

The initial 750-room Hotel101 in Cairo, Egypt, will be located in Hay Al Ashgar along Ahmed Zewail Road in 6th of October City, Giza, within the broader catchment of the Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum.

From October 22, China’s grace period for the disclosure and settlement of certain offshore-trust tax liabilities ends. For the Chinese government, this deadline highlights its desire to affirm control over capital outflows, while for Chinese high-net-worth families, it serves as a reminder that it is now harder to keep international assets beyond the reach of the government. The deadline sits against the backdrop of China tightening scrutiny around cryptocurrency, stablecoins and real-world...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday said that it is reviewing the Supreme Court"s (SC) decision declaring the 2024 and 2025 national budgets unconstitutional.

The agricultural sector has so far incurred P8.57 billion in damage and losses due to El Niño, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, has sold out the latest batch of flats at its Sierra Sea project in the New Territories, where units were offered at discounted prices ahead of a possible US Federal Reserve interest-rate increase by year-end. By 5.40pm on Wednesday, SHKP had found buyers for all 128 flats offered at listed prices in Phase 2C(2) of the development in Shap Sze Heung, between Sai Kung and Ma On Shan, according to agents. Sales began at...