Debt-to-GDP ratio narrows to 60.15% in Q1 By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE national government’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio narrowed to 60.15 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Bureau of the Treasury. Debt-to-GDP from January to March 2024 is lower by 0.9 percent than the 61.05 percent recorded in the same period a year ago, based on Treasury’s data. The ratio is also within the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) target of debt ratio at 60.3 percent
under the revised Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF). However, this is above the recommended 60-percent threshold by multilateral lenders for emerging markets, such as the Philippines. In 2023, the national government ended the year with a debtto-GDP ratio of 60.10 percent. Domestic debt, as a share of the economy, inched up to 41.4 percent by the end of the first quarter this year from 41.2 percent as of end-2021. Meanwhile, external debt to GDP declined to 18.7 percent as of end-March in 2024 from 18.9 percent recorded at the end of 2023.
In March, the government reported an outstanding debt of P14.925 trillion as of the end of first quarter of the year. This was higher by 7.71 percent, or P1.068 trillion, year-on-year from P13.856 trillion in 2023; but lower by 1.67 percent compared to the end-February level of P15.178 trillion credited to the net redemption of domestic government securities. Moreover, deficit-to-GDP ratio also declined to 4.46 percent in the first quarter of 2024, lower than the 4.82 percent for the same period in 2023. The government forecasts a full-year fiscal deficit equivalent
to 5.6 percent of GDP from the 6.2 percent in 2023 in line with fiscal consolidation efforts, the Treasury said. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Thursday that the economy posted a growth of 5.7 percent in the first quarter of the year, higher than the 5.5 percent posted in the last quarter of 2023 but slower than the 6.4 percent posted in the first quarter last year. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/05/09/ phl-economy-posts-5-7-growthin-q1-of-2024-psa/). See “Debt-to-GDP,” A
BusinessMirror Friday, May 10, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 206
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SPENDING CUTBACKS TO CONTINUE, SAY EXPERTS F By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ILIPINOS struggling with high commodity prices are expected to continue cutting back on their spending, limiting the growth of the Philippine economy in the coming quarters, according to local economists.
The economists projected this scenario after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s GDP growth averaged 5.7 percent, slower than the 6.4 percent in the first quarter but faster than the 5.5 percent posted in the last quarter of 2023. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/05/09/phl-economy-posts5-7-growth-in-q1-of-2024-psa/). National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said household consumption spending, which posted growth of 4.6 percent, was the slowest in 14 years, sans the pandemic years. Consumption spending accounted for 74.5 percent of the country’s GDP in the January to March period this year. See “Spending,” A
TRABAHO PARA SA BAYAN SM, the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), and industry giants join forces to bolster the workforce through Trabaho Para sa Bayan: Job Opportunities Building Skills (J.O.B.S.). A dedication ceremony for the program, spotlighting job creation and skills enhancement initiatives, took place at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall on May 9, 2024. Leading PSAC’s J.O.B.S. initiative are SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) Vice Chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson (center) and SM Foundation Executive Director Deborah Sy (second from right), alongside: Philippine Exporters Confederation President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion, Ayala Corporation Lead Independent Director Rizalina Mantaring, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) Vice President Ferdinand Ferrer, Magsaysay Group of Companies President Doris Magsaysay-Ho, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Chairman George Barcelon, Jobstreet by SEEK Managing Director Dannah Majarocon, Special Assistant to the President for Investments and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, and Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. Full story below. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
SOFITEL OWNER WANTS 25 YRS MORE ON ITS LEASE WITH GSIS By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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HE iconic five-star hotel by the bay, Sofitel Philippine Plaza, will be closed by June 30. This developed as the hotel owner, Philippine Plaza Holdings Inc., is requesting the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for an extension on its lease contract for another 25 years, or until 2066. The government pension fund owns the lot on which the 600-room hotel stands. Its current lease contract expires in 2041. A high-ranking government
source disclosed to the BusinessMirror that the holding firm has just written GSIS “this week” requesting for an extension on its contract, originally signed in 2016 for 25 years, but under “status quo” terms, which means no change in the lease amount and revenue-sharing agreement. But the pension fund wants an improvement on the lease terms, “to benefit the government,” said the source, “after all this time and over the long relationship” between both parties. Just last June, both parties agreed to expand the property under lease, which now encompasses See “Sofitel,” A
Hybrid, upskilling, granular: 3 ways to improve job fairs By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanju
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YBRID setup, coupled with skills building, rebuilding and upskilling components make for the “biggest difference” in how job fairs are conducted in the country compared to the previous fairs, according to a Jobstreet official. Asked how different is the job fair this year compared to previous years, Dannah Majarocon, Jobstreet by SEEK Managing Director for Philippines, told reporters, “The biggest difference of this particular jobs initiative is the fact that there is a skills building, rebuilding and upskilling compo-
nent which addresses the need for our Filipinos to be able to match with the job that they want.” On top of shifting the focus on addressing the skills mismatch in the country, Majarocon noted that the job fair this year is different “mainly because it has an online and offline component. Every week we have job fairs hosted by SM supermalls. And at the same time we have jobs available online.” The Jobstreet official emphasized that the private sector, through SM Supermalls, has allowed the online job platform to widen the reach of its job fairs across the country. See “Hybrid,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES Q US 57.4070 Q JAPAN 0.3691 Q UK 71.7473 Q HK 7.3441 Q CHINA 7.9471 Q SINGAPORE 42.3543 Q AUSTRALIA 37.7738 Q EU 61.7183 Q KOREA 0.0421 Q SAUDI ARABIA 15.3069 Source: BSP (May 9, 2024)