RP to sell P80B in assets to balance 2008 budget

The Philippine government will be selling P80 billion worth of assets next year to boost its chances of achieving a balanced budget after a decade of deficits. In an interview with reporters, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said this target is P50 billion more than the original privatization goal of P30 billion set for next year. For 2007, the government is aiming at privatizing P70 billion worth of assets. “Our target for next year is about P30 billion only from privatization but my rough estimate of that is about P80 billion. That is quite a lot of money," he added. Teves said that up for sale next year are the government’s 24 percent stake in food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. worth about P50 billion as well as its 10 percent interest in Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. worth P10 billion. The government, he added, also hopes to dispose its shareholdings in Philippine National Oil Corp.–Exploration Corp. next year after successfully selling its entire stake in PNOC–Energy Development Corp. later this year. The government hopes to raise between P32 billion and P36 billion from the auction of its remaining 40 percent in PNOC-EDC on November 21. Aside from shareholdings in various companies, Teves said the government hopes to sell various real estate properties including the 500-hectare National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, the 100-hectare Food Terminal Inc. property in Taguig City, and the Fujimi property in Japan. This year, assets that have been sold include: the government’s 46 percent stake in Philippine Telecommunication Investments Corp. worth P25.2 billion, its 20-percent interest in PNOC-EDC worth P16.6 billion, the 60-hectare old Iloilo airport in the town of Mandurriao worth P1.2 billion, and the remaining 4.6 percent stake in Philippine National Bank worth P998 million. The government is stepping up efforts to privatize big ticket assets in order to make up for collection shortfalls by both the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. On Wednesday, the Finance Department reported that the government incurred a budget deficit of P40 billion in the first nine months of the year, better than programmed but largely due to savings from lower interest payments. Nevertheless, the government has vowed to stick to its goal of ending 2007 with no more than P63 billion in deficit, before it moves to a balanced budget by the end of 2008. - GMANews.TV