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Friday, February 28, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 141
$1.6-B exports to US at risk from GSP loss S
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
@jearcalas
ENATE Democrats urged the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office to look into the possibility of revoking the generalized system of preferences (GSP) extended by Washington to the Philippines over human rights and labor-related issues, a move that could imperil $1.59 billion worth of exports to US.
The six senators belonging to the Democratic party also said Washington must desist from entering into any future trade negotiations with Manila until the Philippines’s “human-rights
record has vastly improved.” In a letter addressed to USTR Robert Lighthizer, the senators expressed their “distress” that the Duterte administration “continues to violate internationally recog-
nized worker rights” and urged an “out-of-cycle review” of the Philippines’s compliance with its obligations under the GSP. An out-of-cycle review, if granted, would be remarkable because
$9.2B The Philippines’s total exports to the US in 2017, making America the country’s second-biggest market after the combined markets of China and Hong Kong. GSP exports account for about 18 percent of these
some of the Philippines’s trade privileges, such as those granted by the US and the European Union, entail periodic reviews. See “Exports,” A2
P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 42 pages |
2019 BUDGET DEFICIT WIDENS TO P660.2B By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM
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HE national government recorded a budget deficit of P660.2 billion last year, higher than the P558.3 billion in 2018, as expenditures outpaced revenues despite the budget delay and the election ban in the first half of the year. Official government data indicated that the budget deficit last year was equivalent to 3.55 percent of GDP, larger than the administration’s target of 3.25 percent of GDP for 2019. According to a report from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), the deficit-to-GDP ratio last year was also up from 3.20 percent in 2018. The widening of the fiscal gap was driven by the robust disbursements in December, which surged by 57.83 percent to P494.4 billion, from P313.3 billion in the same month in 2018.
Salceda estimate: PHL lost $12B from Citira OK delay By Elijah Felice E. Rosales
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@alyasjah
HE Philippines has lost at least $12 billion worth of investments over the past two years due to the prolonged deliberations on the second tax reform bill, as foreign investors hesitate to set up shop in the country with the fiscal structure yet to be finalized. Albay Rep. Joey S. Salceda on Thursday told reporters that $12 billion in investments has been either stalled or lost due to the delayed passage of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) bill. Foreign firms, he explained, are thinking twice about their plans in the Philippines without a final tax policy in place. “Around $12 billion is the notional [losses]—those that should have flowed into the Philippines— because of the two years [of Citira deliberations],” Salceda said.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n
Comparing the Philippines to its Southeast Asian rivals, he argued that the country has a legislative method that paves the way for longer discussions on proposed laws. He said in countries like Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, when their government wants to pass a new rule, they can do so immediately without consulting with stakeholders. “Here, it has been two years since President Duterte approved the Citira bill as a priority of his Cabinet. It has been two years hanging now. Foreign investors want to know what tax rate they will be paying when they enter the Philippines,” Salceda lamented. As such, the economist turned lawmaker is calling on his counterparts from the Senate to pass their version of the Citira bill the soonest. He argued that the measure will guarantee stability for the See “Citira,” A2
With the acceleration in disbursements in the last month of 2019, full-year government spending reached P3.797 trillion, which exceeded the programmed P3.769 trillion by P28.1 billion. Spending was also higher by an annualized rate of 11.42 percent or by P389.3 billion. Government revenues last year settled at P3.1375 trillion, P12.2 billion or 0.39 percent short of the P3.1497-trillion target for the year. Last year’s revenue collection still saw an expansion of 10.08 percent year-on-year, from P2.8502 trillion in 2018. The bulk of total collection, or 90 percent, were tax revenues, which swelled to P2.8278 trillion. The remaining 10 percent came from nontax sources amounting to P309.7 billion. “To the extent that fiscal stimulus can be financed effectively and efficiently without causing Continued on A12
PHL banana exports to China seen to normalize
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URGENT WORK Workers rush the construction of the MRT 7 project along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Thursday (February 27) to meet the deadline, as government’s road map to mobility includes putting in place efficient modes of mass transportation. NONOY LACZA
HE country’s banana shipments to China are slowly improving and may soon normalize as businesses resume operations and purchase of the yellow fruit amid the COVID-19 scare, according to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA). In a statement on Thursday, PBGEA said the disruption in Philippine banana shipments to China due to COVID-19 outbreaks was “short-lived,” with the Chinese government fully supporting businesses in stabilizing operations. “A month after the dwindling volume of shipments that created a slump in banana price from an average of $8.00 per box to $1.80 per box—causing panic [among] small growers, this has slowly improved owing to the normalization of the situation in See “Banana,” A2
US 51.0470 n JAPAN 0.4623 n UK 65.8864 n HK 6.5506 n CHINA 7.2685 n SINGAPORE 36.5326 n AUSTRALIA 33.4001 n EU 55.5545 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6057
Source: BSP (27 February 2020)