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AFTER last year’s improvement, the Philippine public sector is
expected to post a higher surplus this year, according to the
Department of Finance.
In a document reporters obtained, the finance
department revised its original program to P104.2 billion from P56.8
billion, after the public sector’s revenues exceeded expenditures
for a second year in 2007.
This means that the country’s public agencies
as a whole required less borrowing, thus easing the pressure on
interest rates, which have been declining to record lows in recent
months.
Under the new program, the 14 monitored
non-financial government owned or controlled corporations (GOCC)
target a combined surplus of P26.4 billion, while the social
security institutions, state-run financial institutions, and local
governments units are aiming for surpluses of P37 billion, P8.6
billion and P37.8 billion respectively.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also is seen to
enjoy a P1 billion surplus, after last year’s deficit, which the
central bank incurred due to its efforts to slow down the peso’s
appreciation.
Last year, the public-sector surplus reached P97
billion or a 783.5-percent improvement compared with the P5.3
billion enjoyed in 2006.
The 2007 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 huge surplus 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 had
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 national government also last year posted a
P12.4 billion budget deficit, or well below the projected deficit
scenario of P63 billion.
-- Chino S. Leyco
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