Economic Views and News in the Philippines and ASEAN
Economic Update
With extreme weather events such as drought or flooding becoming more common due to climate change, countries around the world are looking to innovative solutions for water management. Water scarcity captured global headlines last summer, as Europe experienced its worst drought in 500 years and China’s Yangtze River reached record low levels, derailing hydropower operations. Elsewhere, widespread flooding affected Nigeria, India, Pakistan and other parts of the world. Due to population growth, climate change and...
Economic Update
As countries around the world look to increase baseload power generation, reduce energy imports and decarbonise their economies, emerging markets are boosting geothermal power generation with the help of new technologies and expertise. A new drilling technology developed by Quaise Energy, a US geothermal start-up spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that uses gyrotron-powered millimetre waves to vaporize rock, could allow for producers to drill as far down as 20 km compared to the average drilling...
Economic Update
A recent report found that relatively few companies in the Asia-Pacific region have adopted net-zero carbon emission strategies to date. Nevertheless, there are grounds for cautious optimism as pacesetters in the region announce ambitious targets and experiment with innovative decarbonisation strategies...
Economic Update
While solar and wind are the dominant segments in the transition to renewables, a number of emerging markets are looking to geothermal sources as a way to meet future energy needs. Geothermal energy – which is generated when pipes drilled into the earth’s surface supply steam to power electricity turbines – lags behind other forms of renewables in terms of installed capacity; however, it is an effective solution for many countries...
Economic Update
After three years of rolling Covid-19 lockdowns and trade disruptions, China posted faster-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023, at 4.5% year-on-year (y-o-y), but the uneven nature of its recovery is sending mixed signals for emerging markets. The strong performance, which exceeded the expectations of many analysts, was powered by 5.4% expansion in the services sector, including a 10.6% spike in retail sales in March, as pent-up demand and high domestic savings drove market activity...
Economic Impact Report
The Philippine tobacco industry accounted for roughly 6% of tax revenue in 2020, and 58% of so-called sin tax receipts. Given its wide-reaching value chain and multiple stakeholders, this publication outlines the industry’s pivotal role in employment, with more than 2m Filipinos estimated to be financially supported by the segment. The research explores why tobacco is important not only for farming communities, but also for retail and informal employment across the archipelago. Amid the prospect of...
Economic Update
A number of remittance-focused financial technology (fintech) start-ups are gaining traction in emerging markets. In doing so, they are making inroads on market share that was formerly the preserve of established providers. Remittances have grown in importance in recent decades, to the point where they now constitute the largest source of foreign income for many developing economies.Remittance flows tend to be more stable than broader capital flows. They also tend to be countercyclical, increasing...
