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ORIGINALLY seen as a deficit, the consolidated public
sector (CPS) posted instead a surplus of P97 billion in
2007, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said Friday.
The
broad public sector tracks the fiscal position not just
of the national government (NG) but also the fiscal
outturn of all its offices and instrumentalities.
Teves
expected the consolidated public sector to incur a
deficit of P80.8 billion last year, mostly because the
NG was seen to accumulate a deficit of around P63
billion. NG would later report a lower-than-target
deficit of just P9.4 billion, while the monitored
corporations, originally seen to incur a deficit, also
reported their own surplus as well.
Instead
of a deficit of P55.5 billion, the monitored
corporations, including the perennially losing National
Food Authority (NFA), posted a surplus totaling P37.85
billion.
Paydowns
on the debts of the old central bank, seen to hit P14.37
billion, proved lower during the year at only P8.18
billion.
The
other public sector, which groups the state-owned
pension funds and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.,
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the various public
corporations and all local government units, posted a
higher-than-program surplus totaling P55.65 billion
instead of surplus of only P34.1 billion.
Only the
BSP reported a preliminary deficit, totaling P31.05
billion instead of a surplus of at least P1 billion
expected for the period.
However,
Teves said the BSP deficit represented outturns as of
end-September 2007 only.
BSP
Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. has maintained they
continue to operate profitably as an institution no
matter that they posted foreign-exchange or accounting
losses as a result of the 18.8-percent appreciation of
the peso last year.
Tetangco,
and his deputy, Diwa Guinigundo, reiterated the losses
were “a necessary component to maintaining price
stability” that, after all, is at the heart of the
entire operations of the central bank for the year.
In 2006
the BSP reported a surplus totaling P557 million. |
