The 15 biggest Money stories of the year

In more ways than one, the biggest economic story of 2015, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, came as a surprise despite the year-long announcements and preparations.

The Philippines hosted the two-day summit conference of 21 APEC member economies last November.

Following the year-long hosting duties conducted in various venues throughout the country, the APEC Summit 2015 was culminated with the two-day leaders' meeting on November 18 and 19 in Manila.

With the arrival of the 21 top-tier officials and some 10,000 delegates came an array of problems. Major streets were closed to regular traffic. Countless commuters had to walk more than 10 kilometers just to reach their respective offices, particularly employees of the business process outsourcing industry.

Hundreds of commercial flights were canceled – some say more than 1,000 – to give way for the arrival of APEC heads of state.

The security preparations were unprecedented, involving 18 government agencies and an estimated 30,000 police, military and civilian personnel.



Back to normal

It was back to normal after the APEC summit, which meant the usual daily gridlock plaguing the streets of Metro Manila. The traffic jam is costing the Philippines at least P2.4 billion a day and is likely to reach P6 billion by 2030 if left unnoticed, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

What is out of the ordinary, and also a hot topic since the beginning of 2015, is the imminent threat posed by the El Niño phenomenon. Expected to peak in the first quarter of 2016, the accompanying extreme drought may cause the Philippines to miss its inflation target and force the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to raise its policy rates sooner than expected, said the banking and financial services giant HSBC.

In the financial markets, the peso remained soft against the US dollar throughout the year, and the top gainers on the Philippine Stock Exchange were not necessarily blue chip stocks.

Even if the peso trailed the dollar, Philippine companies took advantage of the low cost of money – as interest rates remained low – and made major acquisitions overseas to enhance their future bottom lines.

Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., a unit of Andrew Tan's Emperador Inc., bought Beam Suntory's brandy and sherry business in Jerez for P13.8 billion in cash. The acquisition includes the brands Fundador Pedro Domecq, Terry Centenario, Tres Capas, and Harveys.

Key to 2016

Instant noodles maker Monde Nissin bought Quorn Foods for £550 million or $831 million. In going for the British meat substitute company, the Philippine firm noted an increasing demand for healthy food.

While Filipino companies were on a shopping spree abroad, Australian telecommunications giant Telstra Corp. Ltd. was looking for a business opportunity in the Philippines.

Telstra took note of the "lousy" Internet service as an entry point to partner with diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. It may invest up to $1 billion to acquire 40 percent of a proposed joint venture.

With a new administration set to take over next year, the Aquino administration sees the economy growing at 8 percent in the next six years.

"Key is to ensure that perception of this country is not going to deteriorate. Confidence in economy should continue to improve," said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan. – with Jannielyn Bigtas/Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News