Seldom told: Vietnam beats PHL in per capita GDP By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
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IETNAM has already overtaken the Philippines in terms of per capita GDP in 2020, according to local economists, including a former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary. In a recent forum of the Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED), former Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Dante B. Canlas said Vietnam overtaking the country is a story that is seldom told. Canlas said the per capita GDP of the Philippines was at
$3,598.61, still higher than Vietnam’s $3,288.35 in 2019. However, the country’s per capita GDP declined to $3,195.54 in 2020 while Vietnam’s increased to $3,352.06. “I call it ‘a story seldom told.’ Vietnam overtook the Philippines in per capita GDP in 2020. And up to now the per capita GDP, going by the World Bank indicators, Vietnam continues to surpass the Philippines,” Canlas said. “There are major challenges [for the Philippines]. One is the stabilization as well as the need for a strong public health system. And in the long run, we have to industrialize and make sure that we’re able to engage in energy
development to be able to come up with affordable electricity rates,” he added. This finding was confirmed by former Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) President Josef T. Yap who said his study took into consideration 2021 data, and this showed the country’s current per capita increased to $3,550 while constant per capita GDP was at $3,328. These numbers still paled in comparison to Vietnam’s current per capita GDP of $3,590 and constant current per capita GDP pegged at $3,409 in 2021. This latest development, Yap said, is a pattern that started as
far back as the 1960s. He said the first Asian country to overtake the Philippines was Korea in 1964, followed by China in 1998. The Philippines has also been overtaken in terms of per capita GDP by its Asean peers starting with Thailand in 1985; Indonesia in 1993; and Vietnam in 2020. Yap attributed this to a “doublewhammy” that hit the country at a time when, despite the good intentions of the government, prevented it from advancing the economy forward. “First aspect of the double whammy is FDI [foreign direct See “GDP,” A2
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DOF BUCKS HALT TO VAT AND EXCISE TAX ON OIL P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 32 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
PHL mining attracts US, Australia, China, UK By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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DVANCED countries like the United States, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom are now looking at the Philippines with keen interest in mining, particularly nickel, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said. Interviewed at the sidelines of the Mining Philippines 2023 Internationational Conference and Exhibition, DENR Undersecretary for Integrated Science Carlos Primo David said that while a few mining companies are fairly advanced already in developing the processing part of nickel, the DENR saw the need to further develop the downstream processing industry. “The economics of it arguably should be studied because if it will not be worthwhile, why will we do it? There’s already a study—one
PISTON, a federation of public transport groups, staged a picket rally along EDSA in Caloocan City on Tuesday to protest consecutive oil price hikes. They are campaigning for the suspension of fuel VAT and excise tax and the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law. NONOY LACZA
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See “Mining,” A2
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas
USPENDING taxes on oil products would do more harm than good as it would hike the national government’s budget deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio while derailing the country’s fiscal recovery, the Finance department said on Tuesday, amid rising calls for such a halt.
“Any of the proposals will adversely affect our economic and fiscal recovery, our international credit ratings, and our overall debt management strategy, while benefiting primarily the rich and without providing lasting
inflation relief,” Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a statement on Tuesday as a response to lawmakers’ proposal of suspending both the value
SALCEDA: OIL REVENUES GIVE GOVT LEEWAY TO HELP POOR
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LEADER of the House o f R e p re s e nt at i v e s said on Tuesday that the lower chamber is studying a ta x approach to help Filipinos with the impact of increasing petroleum products, but caut ioned t hat lawmakers should be careful with the proposed excise ta x suspension. Like in the 18th Congress, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said he proposed to reduce the excise tax by P3 when the average Means of Platts Singapore price exceeds $80 for three months and increase
the tax by P2 when the price is below $45. “As I said in interviews, we have to be careful with the excise tax suspension because, while world oil prices go up and down, fiscal credibility is difficult to restore,” he said. “ The additional revenues during periods of low prices can be used for fuel subsidies when prices are high. The leadership is studying this approach. A highly volatile and socially sensitive commodity should not have such an inflexible tax regime,” he added. See “Oil,” A2
See “Tax,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.8270 n JAPAN 0.3850 n UK 70.4200 n HK 7.2685 n CHINA 7.7931 n SINGAPORE 41.6803 n AUSTRALIA 36.5739 n EU 60.7765 n KOREA 0.0430 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1514 Source:
BSP (19 September 2023)