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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
THE Philippines’ budget deficit
in the first quarter breached the government’s ceiling for the
period, as revenues failed to keep pace with expenditures.
If this persists, the government
would have to borrow more money or cut expenditures or do both to
stay within its programmed full-year deficit ceiling for this year.
Borrowing more money risks jacking up interest rates, while a
reduction in government spending may slow down economic expansion
and job generation.
Finance Secretary Margarito B.
Teves said the deficit at end-March reached P52 billion, or P6.1
billion more than the P45.8-billion ceiling set for the three-month
period. The ceiling for the period is already 73 percent of the
full-year limit.
Teves blamed the
wider-than-expected fiscal gap on an P18.5-billion shortfall in
revenue collections. The government had set a P255.8 billion
collection target for the January to March period.
The funding shortfall would have
been bigger if not for the P12.4 billion cut in spending due to
lower interest payments on the government’s debt.
Collections by the Bureaus of
Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) reached P143.1 billion
and P40.2 billion, respectively, so far this year.
In March alone, revenues reached
P75 billion, with the BIR accounting for P52.1 billion.
The BOC, which generated P15
billion last month, suffered a decline in collections due to lower
volume of petroleum imports and the peso’s appreciation.
The Bureau of Treasury generated
P14.1 billion while other offices, in addition to the government’s
asset sales, brought in P39.9 billion.
The Department of Budget and
Management said it disbursed P289.3 billion in the first quarter, or
6 percent higher than expenditures made last year. Net of interest
payments, disbursements grew by 19 percent.
For March alone, spending grew by
14 percent.
Excluding interest payments, the
government enjoyed a primary surplus for the quarter amounting to
P38.5 billion. This is six percent higher than last year.
Teves said the government would
pursue the sale of state shares in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) this year to compensate for the revenue
shortfall incurred during the first quarter.
The sale of the government’s
interest in San Miguel and Meralco could raise as much as P50
billion and P5 billion, respectively.
Teves said the government is
holding talks with several stakeholders regarding the 24-percent
stake in San Miguel. Besides the national government, the Social
Security System owns 6 percent of Southeast Asia’s largest food
and beverage firm.
Another state-run pension fund,
Government Service Insurance System, recently sold its 7-percent
interest in the beer brewer.
The government is also laying
claim on another 20-percent stake in San Miguel currently held by
the company’s chairman, Eduardo Danding Cojuangco, arguing
that those shares were part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Teves said that the sale of the
government’s Meralco assets is in progress.
The government is one of
Meralco’s single biggest shareholders owning a 12.03 percent stake
in the country’s biggest electricity distributor, which serves an
estimated 3.8 million customers.
On top of the two blue chip
companies, the government is also banking on higher dividends from
state-owned corporations, and possible gains from selling debt
papers backed by tax receivables and foreclosed properties, Teves
said.
“We could offer discounts to
the extent that it remains legally feasible. We will continue to
look for ways to increase because of the challenges of the first
quarter. Hopefully we could get revenues from these sources,” he
said.
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