BUSINESSES, especially retailers, will enjoy the benefits brought about by the Christmas season.
At this time of the year, Cebu Bankers Club president Maximo Rey Eleccion said credit card purchases and personal loans are expected to rise.
However, he noted that demand for auto, housing, and SME loans are not as high, as these are “planned loans” and are independent of the season.
Locally, several establishments have already secured their sales promo permits with the Department of Trade and Industry Cebu office.
According to DTI-Cebu Consumer Welfare Division Chief Zaide Bation, the agency has already issued 198 sales promotion permits from Nov. 1 up to Dec. 8.
In November alone, sales promotion permits reached 168. This means 20 additional permits were issued in the first eight days of December alone.
Bation said most establishments that applied for sales promotion permits include food establishments and boutiques.
Some tenants of the soon-to-open Robinsons Galleria Cebu have also secured their promotion permits with DTI Cebu.
The Department of Labor and Employment 7 recently issued a statement reiterating its call for employers to give out the 13th month pay of their workers on or before Dec. 24.
The 13th month pay constitutes one-twelfth of the basic pay received by an employee in a calendar year.
“All employers are required to pay their workers the 13th month pay, regardless of the nature of their employment, and irrespective of the methods by which their wages are paid, provided they worked for at least one month during a calendar year,” said Dole Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz in the agency’s press statement, adding that the 13th month pay is a labor standard requirement of the Labor Code.