DOF mulls selling gov't stake in SCTEX to SSS, GSIS

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto has raised the possibility of the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) buying out the government's stake in the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) to boost the pension funds’ investment portfolio.

Recto made the disclosure a week after the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it was considering selling its remaining stake in the SCTEX to the MVP Group, led by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan.

According to BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang, the Pangilinan-led group made a buyout offer through a letter that was furnished to the Department of Finance (DOF) and Malacañang.

Recto was asked for his comment on the announcement, to which he replied that “it's better off that we sell those shares to raise revenue, non-tax revenue, and better maybe if the pension funds buy from us.”

“Maybe the SSS and GSIS can buy them... so they can earn money,” the Finance chief said.

The SCTEX is a 94-kilometer expressway that traverses Bataan, Pampanga, and Tarlac. The contract to manage, operate, and maintain the project was awarded to NLEX Corp. by the BCDA in October 2015.

Under the current agreement, 50% of the revenues go to the Pangilinan-led SCTEX concessionaire NLEX Corp., while the remaining 50% goes to the BCDA, which still has to service its debt with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the ¥59.04-billion construction of the SCTEX. —VBL, GMA Integrated News