Gov’t borrowings up 20% in Jan-May

BY DENNIS GADIL

Government borrowings during the first five months stood at P258.6 billion, up 20 percent from the P216.05 billion it borrowed in the same period last year... (more)

WB sees RP recession

BY JIMMY CALAPATI and DENNIS GADIL

The World Bank sees the Philippines suffering a recession this year, along with most countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region... (more)

P20B more for stimulus fund

BY DENNIS GADIL

The government is throwing an additional P20 billion into its stimulus package in the face of the weak 0.4 percent growth during the first quarter... (more)

NG debt up 1.5% in March

BY DENNIS GADIL

The government’s debt stock went up by 1.5 percent in March to P4.229 trillion from P4.164 trillion registered in February or an expansion of P65 billion... (more)

BTr makes partial award for 91-day T-bills as investors seek higher yields

BY DENNIS GADIL

Investors yesterday continued to press government for higher yields, leading the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to reject bids for the 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills (T-bills) while opting for a partial award on the benchmark 91-day bills... (more)

Debt-to-GDP ratio seen to increase to 57.6%

BY DENNIS GADIL

The government’s debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) will deteriorate further to 57.6 percent, from an earlier projected 56.3 percent, as the country jacks up borrowings to finance a widened budget deficit of P250 billion which represents the 3.2 percent of the GDP... (more)

Gov’t likely to make more foreign borrowings

BY DENNIS GADIL

The high interest regime in the domestic credit market is likely to prompt the government to resort to higher foreign borrowings to finance its swelling deficit...(more)

Gov’t rushes privatization lineup

BY DENNIS GADIL

The government, under intense pressure to generate more revenues, is rushing the privatization of the sprawling Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) complex next month and its stake in the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) in September. (more)

Falling tax revenues worry IMF

BY DENNIS GADIL

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants an assessment of the economic impact of the global financial crisis independent of the positive or negative effect of tax reform measures passed or about to be passed by Congress. (more)

Corporate income tax drops P45.3B in Q1

BY DENNIS GADIL

Government has reported lower revenues from corporate income tax during the first quarter of 2009, declining by P45.3 billion to P88.9 billion from P134.2 billion collected in the last quarter of 2008 as companies reel from the global financial crisis. (more)

Climate change costs P500M a year

BY DENNIS GADIL

The country loses more than P470 million yearly, or equivalent to .02 of the gross domestic product (GDP), as the economy absorbs the impact of extreme weather conditions disrupting agriculture and commerce, a congressional think tank said... (more)

Tax effort declines in first quarter

BY DENNIS GADIL

Tax effort, the ratio of revenue collections to national output, plunged to 11.5 percent during the first quarter of 2009 from the 12.9 percent recorded during the same period last year... (more)

BTr rejects half of T-bill offers

Lower growth and a recent cut in the key rates of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) prompted buyers to demand for higher Treasury yields, a demand the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) met only half-way by withholding full award of its P7.5 billion offering at yesterday’s auction. - Dennis Gadil (more)