Firms less upbeat on expansion, hiringhome/Business/Top Business/Firms less upbeat on expansion, hiringPHILIPPINE companies are less optimistic with regard to expansion and hiring for the first quarter of next year, data from a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey showed. Results of the recently released Business Expectation Survey (BES) put the confidence index (CI) of companies with expansion plans at 36 percent, marginally down from 36.1 percent in the previous quarter. “Stronger” expansion plans were recorded in manufacturing and mining and quarrying, the Bangko Sentral said, while the reverse was seen for the electricity, gas and water, and agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors. The employment outlook, meanwhile, plunged to 21.8 percent from 26.3 percent. The expansion and employment outlooks are consistent with the less bullish overall business sentiment for the first quarter of 2019.

Source: Manila Times December 09, 2018 16:18 UTC