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TRADE
Secretary Peter B. Favila suspects that the cement
giants in the country are probably bloating their
financing charges to justify their relatively high
prices.
“Their
financing charges, I think, is on the high side,” Favila
told reporters.
Favila
is commenting on the documents submitted by cement
makers Lafarge, Holcim and Cemex—all of them
foreign-owned—detailing their respective operating
costs.
The
Trade chief had earlier said he would determine if these
companies are indeed overpricing their products by
comparing their operating costs with their ex-plant
prices.
Favila
said based on his initial study of the documents
submitted by the cement companies, the financing charges
column got his attention immediately.
Favila
said he even asked Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor
Amando Tetangco to comment on the interest payments
claims of the foreign cement triumvirates.
Tetangco
commented that it appears that the financing charges are
indeed too high if based on the interest rates regime,
Favila said.
“But I
can’t draw conclusions right now. The difference is too
glaring,” he said.
With
this, Favila said he would be talking to the banks
identified by the cement companies as their creditors.
He said
he would check with the banks if the rates being claimed
by these companies are true.
The DTI
and the Board of Investments will be releasing their
findings soon on whether the local cement industry
players are indeed guilty of overpricing.
Even the
World Bank commented in one recent forum that the price
of cement in the Philippines is too high compared with
other countries. |
