GMA News Online Economy

To help Metro Manila and its two water service concessionaires deal with two million cubic meters of wastewater per day, the World Bank approved a loan package of $275 million for two sewerage treatment plants.

Shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed sharply lower on extended profit-taking Wednesday, dragged by renewed risk aversion arising from the euro debt crisis and the potential fallout from the Philippine standoff with China over the Panatag Shoal.

Broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. on Wednesday announced that its net income reached P388 million in the first quarter of the year, a strong start on the heels of a lukewarm closing for 2011.

Microenterprises, small and medium business, and retailers constitute a significant economic force—contributing P1.3 trillion or 13 percent of the P9.7-trillion national economy, President Benigno Aquino III highlighted Wednesday.

A new complaint from China about bugs in Philippine fruit exports has puzzled Philippine agriculture officials, who said there had been no similar complaint from other countries importing same products.