11-mo debt service dips 12.6% to ₧991.052B By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas
T EXPLAINER »B4
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HE national government’s debt service from January to November of last year declined by 12.61 percent to P991.052 billion from P1.134 trillion recorded payments in the same period of 2021, latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed. Latest Treasury data showed that the national government paid less during the 11-month period due to lower amortization payments, which fell by 27.34 percent year-on-year. Treasury data showed that bulk of the national government’s debt
service payments were accounted for by amortizations which reached P531.799 billion during the 11-month period. The amount was P200.176 billion lower than the P731.975 billion recorded amortization payments during the January-to-November period of 2021. Treasury data showed that domestic amortization payments reached P409.041 billion while external amortization payments were estimated at P122.758 billion. In terms of interest payments, the national government paid P459.253 bi l l ion dur ing t he 11-month period, 14.21 percent lower than the P402.105 billion
recorded in 2021. Treasury data showed that the national government’s domestic and foreign interest payments both posted double-digit growth rates during the reference period. The national government paid P347.201 billion in domestic interest payments, 12.31 percent higher than it did in 2021 at P309.152 billion. Meanwhile, foreign interest payments rose by a fifth on an annual basis to P112.052 billion from P92.953 billion. Domestic interest payments were composed mainly of interest payments for Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds amounting to P224.525 billion, followed by Retail Treasury
Bonds at P107.734 billion. In November alone, the national government’s debt service declined by almost 25 percent to P61.389 billion from P81.239 billion. The amortizations for the month of November 2022 fell by 29.431 percent to P35.297 billion, from P50.018 billion a year ago. In the same month, interest payments also declined by 16.43 percent to P26.092 billion from P31.221 billion. For November, domestic interest payments reached P18.584 billion while foreign interest payments amounted to P7.508 billion during the period.
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Vol. 18 No. 93
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PUSH NAIA PRIVATIZATION By Samuel P. Medenilla
PBBM to tout PHL’s assets to investors at ’23 WEF
@sam_medenilla
& Andrea E. San Juan
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USINESS leaders and a lawmaker are endorsing a proposal—refloated after the January 1 aviation fiasco that paralyzed the premier airport—to privatize operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), but a large labor coalition warned it would throw out of jobs thousands of state workers, and hike costs of travelers.
Privatizing NAIA’s operations “anticipates” the potential growth of the Philippine tourism sector, which is a major driver of the country’s economy, according to Go Negosyo founder Jose Maria A. Concepcion III. The head of a major business group in the country had a similar view. “I don’t have a problem with the privatization of NAIA. If the private sector can do it better than the government, then let’s allow the private sector to manage it,” said Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc (FFCCCII) president Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong in an interview on the sidelines of the Pandesal forum in Quezon City on Saturday.
By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
P
FIL-AM IS MS UNIVERSE R'Bonney Gabriel, the first Filipino American to win Miss USA, holds hands with Miss Venezuela Amanda Dudamel prior to being crowned Miss Universe during the final round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, in New Orleans on Saturday, January 14, 2023. Story on page A10. TROI SANTOS
DECLINE IN EARNINGS SIGNALS SYSTEMIC RISK–BSP By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
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HE recent increase in employment may not be enough to ensure higher incomes for Filipinos and guarantee the country’s recovery, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). If the incomes of Filipinos
See “Biz groups,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.1760
in 2021 were adjusted for inflation, the BSP estimated that this would lead to a 10 percent drop compared to the 2018 level. If the income is not adjusted for inflation, incomes would only show a drop of 2 percent in 2021 from 2018. Based on the 2021 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), the average annual family income reached
P307,190 in 2021, lower than the P313,350 in 2018. If this income level is adjusted for inflation, the average annual family income in 2021 would only be P282,080. “What these highlight is the need to sustain income growth, more so among families which were hardest hit by the pandemic. The improvements in 2021 are
much welcomed, but the economy in 2022 is again facing a new round of systemic risk,” BSP said. “Oil and commodity market disruptions are already eroding purchasing power and can undermine the country’s efforts towards full recovery,” it added in its 2022 Financial Stability Report (FSR). See “Decline,” A2
RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will be promoting the country as a top investment destination backed with a skilled workforce and pandemicresilient supply chains during the 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland this week. At his predeparture ceremony at the Villamor Airbase on Sunday, Marcos said he hopes his inaugural participation at the WEF will persuade more firms to invest in the country. “The World Economic Forum is hosting a Country Strategy Dialogue for us where we are given the opportunity to promote the Philippines as leader and driver of growth and a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region—one that is open for business—ever ready to complement regional and global expansion plans of both foreign and Philippine-based enterprises anchored on the competent and well-educated Filipino workers, managers, and professionals,” Marcos said. He will also highlight the country’s infrastructure projects, initiatives to achieve food and energy security and pandemic-resilient supply chain to demonstrate the country’s readiness to host the operations of multinational firms. “I will share our experience as a model for managing—with our global partners—the disruptive and transformative impact of Covid (novel coronavirus disease),” Marcos said. See “PBBM,” A2
n JAPAN 0.4270 n UK 67.3368 n HK 7.0661 n CHINA 8.2034 n SINGAPORE 41.7526 n AUSTRALIA 38.4687 n EU 59.8660 n KOREA 0.0445 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.6913
Source: BSP (January 13, 2023)