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THE
various government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs)
are drafting a prepayment plan on $2.4 billion worth of
debts as part of a broad effort to cut public-sector
indebtedness as percentage of local output or the gross
domestic product.
Finance
Secretary Margarito Teves bared the plan Wednesday at a
forum peering into the future of the
Philippines
against the background of a possible recession in the
US.
Teves
provided a copy of his speech in an e-mail to financial
reporters.
“From
proceeds of power privatization, the GOCCs are looking
to prepay $2.4 billion in debt,” Teves said.
He has
sold P90.6 billion worth of state assets last year but
plans to sell more this year, including the national
government’s 7.6-percent stake in the power distribution
firm Meralco.
Although
Teves failed to cite the GOCCs concerned, it is well
known that 14 are the most heavily indebted and for this
explains why their finances are closely monitored.
The
monitored GOCCs include the National Food Authority, the
National Housing Authority, the National Development
Corp., and the Philippine National Oil Corp., among
others.
Very few
GOCCs post surpluses in the past, but one of the more
liquid and profitable at the moment is the Philippine
Estates Authority, records show.
In
addition, government was prepared to source the foreign
exchange needed for prepayment at the local currencies
market of the Philippine Dealing System where the peso
has steadily strengthened for more a year now.
The
anticipated dollar purchases were seen to bring relief,
albeit temporarily, to exporters and beneficiaries of
overseas Filipino remittances whose peso-conversion
value dropped with each gain the local unit posted.
“We are
also planning to borrow more from the domestic market
with the borrowing mix now changed to 70 to 30 in favor
of domestic borrowings from a 64-36 mix earlier,” Teves
said.
This
confirmed Finance Undersecretary Roberto Tan’s
disclosure on Tuesday that government was prepared to
borrow its foreign-exchange requirements this year from
the domestic market rather than abroad.
Teves
also said growth will likely hit the top end of the
forecast ranging from 6.3 percent to 7 percent, and that
growth this year will likely match the year ago
performance.
“The
expected GDP growth this year may be more optimistic
than other forecasts, but we believe this is because the
Philippines is in a much better position to withstand
the adverse effects of a possible US slowdown or
recession,” Teves said. |
