Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

"Real Economy" Exposed

He described an innovative feature wherein models will be carrying or featuring advertisement signs or billboards of various sponsors, and noted this as an example of a unique innovation that will bring about good value for sponsors. He also reminded the members of the fellowship on August 22, 2007, to be held at “Air Force One”, and reminded members to meet in Makati at exactly 5:00 pm since “every minute counts.”

Dir. Chito Frondoso introduced our Guest Speaker for the day, Mr. Felipe P. Estrella, Vice-President of Citibank. Mr. Estrella, whose presentation was culled from Citibank’s various research sources, presented technical assessments of the events of the past 2 weeks, both in the US and in the Philippines. He noted that what drives the market is expectation, particularly expectation by investors. As an example, he mentioned investments in so-called “sub-prime” shares, which consist of mortgage borrowers who have a “blemished” credit record, and are therefore riskier. This indicates investors’ appetite for higher risk, and since such securities carry higher risk, yields or interest rates are higher, as compared to interest in money market accounts, which are usually low risk. In the local scene, Mr. Estrella presentation included discussions on fiscal policy, the so-called “Real Economy”, the foreign exchange rate movements, and the Philippine equities market, which he noted is presently doing quite well. He also noted developments to watch-out for in the coming weeks, particularly the US Economic Data, bank lending policies, OFW remittances, Balance of Payments, and BSP overnight rates.