00:00The Department of Agriculture or DA expressed optimism about the possible consideration
00:06of the Japanese government to review its imposed tariffs on the country's banana exports.
00:11Meanwhile, water concessionaire Maynila announced its plan to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange
00:19by July next year.
00:20These and more in tonight's business wrap from the Philippine News Agency.
00:30Moving to our business news, the Department of Agriculture is hoping for the Japanese
00:39government to consider reviewing the tariffs on Philippine banana exports.
00:45Agriculture Secretary Francisco Chu Laurel Jr. met with Japan's State Minister of Agriculture
00:50and with other Japanese officials on Monday to discuss lowering tariffs and secure a fairer
00:57trade environment.
00:58DA spokesperson Arnel De Mesa said that Laurel is optimistic that Japan will take action
01:04and stressed that reducing tariffs would benefit both banana farmers and the economy.
01:11In 2023, the Philippines exported over 985,000 metric tons of bananas to Japan, or more than
01:1841 percent out of the 2.35 million metric tons of bananas exported worldwide.
01:25Meanwhile, water concessionaire Maynila plans to raise Php 49 billion from its initial public
01:32offering as it announced plans to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange by July this year.
01:39Maynila targets to offer over 2.4 million common shares at a maximum price of Php 20
01:47per share from June 25 to July 2.
01:50This amounts to 30.4 percent of Maynila's outstanding capital stock post-IPO, subject
01:57to the approval of PSE and Securities Exchange Commission.
02:01Parts of the proceeds will be used for corporate purposes.
02:06In other news, global gross domestic product growth is expected to slack from 3.2 percent
02:12in 2024 to 3.1 percent in 2025 and 3 percent in 2026.
02:18The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that this drop is due
02:22to higher trade barriers in several G20 economies, as well as uncertainties in geopolitical and
02:29policy matters weighing on household spending and investment.
02:33In its December 2024 Economic Outlook, the OECD estimated that global GDP growth will
02:40be at 3.3 percent in both 2025 and 2026.
02:46That's the latest business news from the Philippine News Agency.
02:50This is Wilnerd Bacelonia for Balitang Pambansa.
