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By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
THE Philippine public sector registered a
surplus for the second time in more than 11 years, as revenues
outstripped expenditures last year.
This means that the country’s public agencies
as a whole required less borrowing, thus easing the pressure on
interest rates, which have dipped to record lows in recent months.
In a statement, the Department of Finance
ascribed the improvement on reforms in governance that resulted in
higher receipts, lower costs and debt servicing.
The public-sector surplus reached P97 billion,
or a 783.5-percent improvement compared with the P5.3 billion
enjoyed in 2006.
The surplus is 1.5 percent of the country’s
gross domestic product (GDP), which is the amount of goods and
services produced locally. The fiscal surplus is likewise better
than the government’s target of P177.8 billion for the period.
The 14 monitored non-financial government owned
or controlled corporations (GOCCs) posted a combined surplus of
P37.8 billion, while the social security institutions, state-run
financial institutions, and local governments units earned surpluses
of P55.7 billion, P7.889 billion and P32.943 billion, respectively.
“The huge surplus of the 14 [GOCCs] was mainly
due to governance reform, which enhanced the ability of the
corporations to carry out greater financial discipline and better
resources management, and lessen their dependence on subsidy,” the
finance department said.
The agency said these reforms include the
stringent review of GOCC requests for national government support
for net lending and tax subsidy, and the tighter review and approval
of guarantees on loans.
“The government financial institution, on the
account of huge net lending operating income from investments, also
made a positive contribution to the higher than program surplus of
the rest of the public sector,” the finance department said.
The national government last year posted a P9.4
billion budget deficit, or well below the projected deficit scenario
of P63 billion.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also suffered a
P31-billion deficit, a turnaround from the P600-million surplus in
the previous year. This was largely due to its attempts to slow down
the peso’s rapid appreciation.
The local currency last year shot up by 19
percent, making it Asia’s best performer. Although the peso’s
strength allowed the government to prepay part of its foreign debt
with cheap dollars and mitigated the impact of rising imported oil
costs, the local currency’s appreciation has eroded the earnings
of exporters and overseas Filipino workers.
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