Govt borrowings seen to peak by 2025, 2026 By Samuel P. Medenilla
B
@sam_medenilla
ORROWINGS under the Marcos administration are expected to peak by 2025 or 2026 as the government raises its revenue through new tax measures in the coming years, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). "The [borrowing] will peak by 2025 to 2026 depending on the collection and expenditure," DBM principal economist and Adviser to the Budget Policy and Strategy Group Joselito R. Basilio said in an interview with reporters in
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
Malacañang on Thursday. He noted this was in line with the downward trend in the country’s budget deficit of the government’s 2022-2028 Medium-Term Fiscal Program (MTFP) due to the expected increase in government revenues. Under the latest MTFP, the 6.1-percent budget deficit this year is expected to slow down initially to 5.1 percent next year and then eventually to 3 percent in 2028. DBM said the projected additional revenues next year from non-tax measures and tax measures will reach P4.27 trillion next
year—14.56 percent higher than this year’s P3.729-trillion target. The non-tax measures include the privatization of government assets, which is expected to generate P196 billion. The bulk or P4.07 trillion of the revenues for 2024, however, are expected to come from existing and new tax measures. The pending tax-related pieces of legislation include the Value Added Tax on Digital Services, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation (Pifita), excise tax on single-use plastics, excise tax on premixed alcoholic beverages, excise tax on sweet-
ened beverages and junk food, and new mining fiscal regime. “Most of the [tax] measures are already in the advance stage... During the Ledac [LegislativeExecutive Development Advisory Council] last month it was also discussed and the Senate and the House [of Representatives] have committed to pass the legislations,” DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said. Pangandaman added she is confident Congress will not pass any new law, which will reduce government revenues. See “Govt,” A2
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
MUP PENSION, BENEFITS www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Friday, August 4, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 291
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 days a week
FOR ’24 TO HIT OVER P160B By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
T
@jearcalas
HE Marcos administration plans to spend over P160 billion for the military and uniform personnel (MUP) pension, gratuity and terminal leave benefits next year, which is nearly P5.7 billion higher than what it allocated this year. Based on the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the executive branch is proposing a P164.087 billion funding for the MUP pension, retirement gratuity and terminal leave. The amount is 3.6 percent over this year’s P158.387 billion budget allocation, according to state budget documents. See related story in B3 Banking, “Features of MUP pension reform bill bared.” Bulk of the proposed fund will finance the pension of MUP and veterans amounting to a total of P140.679 billion, based on Chapter 42 of the 2024 NEP. Of the amount, about P129.821 billion would go to the pension of MUP while P10.857 billion will fund the pension of veterans. The proposed budget for next year’s MUP pension is slightly higher than the P128.656 billion allocated this year. The veterans' pension, meanwhile, has the same amount of budget for 2023. T he 2024 NEP showed t hat P23.408 billion be allocated for the retirement gratuity and terminal leave of MUP, 24 percent higher than the P18.873 billion budget this year. Broken down, it allots P10.306 billion to retirement gratuity and P13.101 billion
ECONOMIST VILLEGAS: FARM GROWTH CRUCIAL
Invest in agriculture, business asked
Duterte briefs PBBM on China trip, Xi meeting
F
At the gathering of Rotarians at Manila Polo Club, Dr. Bernardo Villegas (left), renowned economist and one of the architects of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, along with Rotary Club of Manila President Rafael Alunan III, who previously held government positions such as Tourism and Interior and Local Government Secretary, offered their perspectives on the Philippine economy under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. NONIE REYES By Cai U. Ordinario
T
@caiordinario
HE private sector can help the ag r icu lture sector post a growth of 2 to 3 percent annually if they will take up the challenge of investing in the sector through corporate farming, according to a local economist. In a briefing for the Rotary Club of Manila on Thursday, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) economist Bernardo Villegas told local businessmen that raising agriculture growth and productivity is crucial in the fight against poverty. Villegas said higher agricul-
tural productivity will boost economic growth to 8 to 10 percent annually. This can bring down poverty to the level of the country’s Asean neighbors of zero to 4 percent by 2028. “It’s time for people in large corporations to invest heavily in corporate farming because that is one way of helping our economy reach higher levels of productivity,” Villegas said. Vi l legas sa id Ma l aysia’s Nucleus farm model can help inform these efforts. Through the model, Malaysia was able to assemble thousands of hectares of land and dedicate it to the production of high value crops such as palm oil and rubber. He said the President’s ad-
visory council, which consists of experts in agriculture, are now working on a similar effort surrounding coconut which is a step toward the right direction. Noting there are 3.5 million hectares of land dedicated to coconut, Villegas said maximizing this would not just allow the country to reap the same benefits that Malaysia gained from palm oil and rubber but also replicate the success of the banana and pineapple industries in the country. “I hope those of you who can do something about it will help the government and the other sectors of society. There is no way we can improve agriculture if we keep those millions of
hectares in two to three hectare fragments. There is no way we will ever grow in agriculture,” Villegas said. “So we have to undo the harm done by agrarian reform, not by taking back the ownership from the small farmers but by finding creative ways of reconsolidating them (such as through) cooperatives,” he added. Villegas said it would also help if local entrepreneurs will encourage children to go into agriculture. He said agriculture is not just farming, but it can be in post-harvest facilities or logistics that are profitable. See “Economist,” A2
ORMER President Rodrigo R. Duterte finally met with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday evening in Malacañang to discuss his recent trip to China. In a brief statement, Presidential Communications Office Cheloy V. Garafil disclosed that Duterte talked about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. “They also discussed other issues. The former President likewise gave some good pieces of advice to President Marcos,” Garafil said. After their face-to-face meeting, President Marcos and former President Duterte were joined by Cabinet secretaries as well as Senator Christopher Go and former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. Marcos earlier said he welcomes Duterte's meeting with Xi since it provided the country additional new communication channels with China. The Chinese government has recognized Duterte for his efforts in improving the relations between Manila and Beijing. Marcos also met with members of the Senate led by Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri last Wednesday in Malacañang for a dinner gettogether. “It was a birthday dinner for Senator Joel Villanueva,” Garafil said. In a statement, Zubiri said among the issues that were discussed in the meeting were agriculture and the issue of the West Philippine Sea. “Overall it was a very relaxed mood and the senators just wanted to catch up with the President,” Zubiri said. Samuel P. Medenilla
See “MUP,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 54.9870 n japan 0.3838 n UK 69.9160 n HK 7.0482 n CHINA 7.6456 n singapore 41.0289 n australia 35.9395 n EU 60.1668 n KOREA 0.0423 n SAUDI arabia 14.6675 Source: BSP (August 3, 2023)