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By Lailany P. Gomez Reporter
THE Philippine public sector may
end this year in the red after three years in the black as the
national government is poised to incur a wider budget deficit to
spend its way out
of a looming recession.
Data from the Department of
Finance showed the consolidated public sector fiscal position may
turn in a P232.95 billion deficit this year.
The consolidated public sector
financial position combines the net revenues of the national
government, government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs),
local government units (LGUs), government financial institutions and
social security institutions.
It is closely monitored by the
international creditor community as the public sector’s financial
position is an indication of a country’s credit risk.
The country’s consolidated
public sector surplus went up 23.5 percent to P32.305 billion last
year. The figure represented 0.4 percent of the Philippines’ gross
domestic product (GDP), which is the amount of final goods and
services produced in a country.
The finance department said last
year’s surplus was the third consecutive improvement since 2006
For this year, the agency said
the national government would incur a budget deficit of P250.048
billion this year, or 267.08-percent higher than the P68.117 billion
the previous year.
The 14 monitored GOCCs are also
seen to post a P63.629 billion deficit, or 129.8-percent higher than
the P27.688 billion the previous year.
The Social Security System,
Government Service Insurance System and the Philippine Health
Insurance Corp., are expected to register a combined surplus of
P41.105 billion, but this figure would be 38.37 lower than last
year’s P66.699 billion.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
is programmed to register a surplus of P1 billion this year, or
92.34-percent lower than the P13.059 billion the previous year.
Government financial institutions
are also expected to post a P8.013 billion surplus, which is
6.89-percent higher than the P7.496 billion last year.
LGUs are poised to register a
P31.260 billion surplus or 9.08-percent lower than last year’s
P34.383 billion.
In the first five months this
year, the national government’s budget deficit shot up 556
percent, as the Arroyo administration cranked up spending despite
weak tax revenues to prevent the economy from slipping into a
recession.
State subsidies to GOCCs also
surged 57 percent at end-May.
The National Statistical
Coordination Board earlier said the Philippines is teetering into
recession, after the economy posted a sharp slowdown in
first-quarter growth at 0.4 percent this year from 3.9 percent this
year.
The disappointing first-quarter
economic results led the government to cut its full-year target to
0.8 percent to 1.8 percent from the previous range of 3.1 percent to
4.1 percent.
It also raised its budget deficit
ceiling to 3.2 percent of GDP from the previous forecast of 2.5
percent. Another key indicator of fiscal health, the deficit-to-GDP
ratio shows how long a government can sustain revenue shortfalls.
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