Govt increases revenue target from ’08 privatization to P48.5b
Manila Standard
The Department of Finance has increased the projected proceeds from the sale of major government assets this year to compensate for lower tax collections brought about by the continued appreciation of the peso and lower import volume.
The finance department sees proceeds from the privatization of government assets reaching P48.5 billion this year, or P19 billion more than the original target of P29.5 billion.
The government has reduced its collection target this year by P18.8 billion to P1.09 trillion from the original target of P1.108 trillion. It trimmed the collection target of the Bureau of Customs to P235.7 billion from the original goal of P254.5 billion. The target of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, meanwhile, was slightly increased to P844.95 billion from P844.9 billion.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee has revised its foreign exchange assumption to a range of P42 to P45 versus $1 and the growth of imports to 9 percent instead of 11 percent.
It also revised upwards the gross domestic product growth forecast to a range of 6.3 percent to 7.0 percent this year from the projected 6.9 percent to 7.3 percent last year.
The government plans to sell its 100 percent interest in PNOC-Exploration Corp. worth around P6 billion, its 12 percent stake in Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. worth over P10 billion, the sprawling 100-hectare property of Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City worth P15 billion and the Fujimi property in Japan worth P3 billion.
It is also looking for joint venture partners for the development of the 300-hectare New Bilibid Prisons property in Muntinlupa City.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves earlier said the government could raise as much as P80 billion next year if its 24 percent interest in food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. worth around P50 billion would be sold.
The government raised a record P90.6 billion from the sale of big-ticket assets in the first 11 months of last year, resulting in a rare budget surplus of P12.6 billion for the period.
The government posted a monthly record P54.1 billion surplus in November after it booked a P47-billion windfall from the sale of its remaining stake in PNOC – Energy Development Corp. to Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., led by Lopez-controlled First Gen Corp., for P58.5 billion.
In all, the government raised P62.6 billion from the sale of its 80 percent stake in PNOC-EDC, followed by P25.2 billion for its 45 percent stake in Philippine Telecommunication Investments Corp., P1.2 billion for the 60-hectare old Iloilo Airport and P1 billion for its remaining 4.6 percent stake in Philippine National Bank.
Lawrence Agcaoili
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