Govt infra spending up to ₧195.2B in Q1 By Bernadette D. Nicolas
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@BNicolasBM
TATE infrastructure spending in the first quarter of this year hit P195.2 billion, up by 25.1 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed nationa l gover nment disbursements for infrastructure and capital outlays from January to March this year were P39.1 billion higher than last year’s P156.1 billion. In its latest assessment on the government’s disbursement performance, the DBM said the
increase was largely due to Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) road infrastructure program and direct payments made to suppliers by foreign creditors for foreign-assisted projects, such as the Metro Manila Subway Project of the Department of Transportation and the Davao City By-Pass Construction Project of the DPWH. “Although the growth in infrastructure and other capital outlays may be partly due to base effects, the increase in infrastructure disbursements for Q1 this year of P39.1 billion was enough to completely offset the P22.1 billion reduction recorded in Q1 last year,”
it said. “It also recovered from the negative growth recorded in the preceding two quarters of 33.0 percent in Q3 and 32.7 percent in Q4 2020.” The double-digit expansion in state infrastructure spending along with higher maintenance disbursements drove the growth in overall government spending for the first quarter of this year. For the three-month period, total government spending surged by nearly 20 percent to P1.018 trillion from last year’s P849.2 billion. “Government spending is one of the major sources of growth which helped temper the economic contraction recorded for Q1 of this
year. While the overall economic performance declined by 4.2 percent, government final consumption expenditure, which consists largely of the expenditures for various social programs, expanded by 16.1 percent,” the DBM said. For March alone, state infrastructure spending jumped by 41.1 percent to P87.8 billion this year from P62.2 billion in the same month last year. “This was largely propelled by the payment for completed and partially completed infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways nationwide such as construction, See “Govt,” A2
BSP: PHL DEBT WIELDY, RATINGS WILL BE KEPT
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Friday, May 21, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 219
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 26 pages |
UDENNA BUYS SHELL STAKE IN MALAMPAYA GAS FIELD FOR $460M
The Philippine government has formally marked its ownership of the Philippine (Benham) Rise. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and M-NAV Solutions Inc. successfully installed three state-of-the-art lighted ocean buoys in the territory’s maritime waters from May 14 up to 16, an activity that followed earlier maritime training exercises that the Coast Guard held in the West Philippine Sea, including Scarborough Shoal. Story on page A3. PHOTOS COURTESY OF M-NAV SOLUTIONS INC.
By Lenie Lectura
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@llectura
ENNIS UY-LED Udenna Cor p. now controls 90 percent of the Malampaya gas-to-power project af ter Shel l Pet roleum N.V. sold its entire stake in the gas project for a total of $460 million. A Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed Thursday with Malampaya Energy XP Pte Ltd. for the sale of Shell Petroleum’s 100-percent shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX). SPEX holds a 45-percent operating interest in Service Contract 38 (SC38), which includes the producing Malampaya gas field. The other partners in SC38 are UC38 LLC, another subsidiary of UC (45 percent), and Philippine National Oil
By Bianca Cuaresma
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@BcuaresmaBM
ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno expressed confidence that the Philippines will retain its investment grade rating from all three major international credit watchers, as the BSP’s latest assessment shows the country’s debt profile will remain manageable amid increased foreign borrowings. See “BSP,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 47.8300
Company Exploration Corporation (10 percent). “The base consideration for the sale is $380 million, with additional payments of up to $80 million between 2022 and 2024 contingent on asset performance and commodity prices,” a statement from Shell Philippines said. The deal is still subject to partner and regulatory approvals. The transaction is targeted to be completed by the end of 2021. “Since it began commercial operations in 2002, Malampaya has supplied a significant portion of the Philippines’s energy demand and it will continue powering the country with indigenous gas following a safe transition of the asset and its experienced work force,” said Wael Sawan, Shell’s Upstream See “Udenna,” A2
Exporters warned vs risks in pandemic By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
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@TyronePiad
HILE the Philippines saw an uptick in first quarter trading, local exporters are still warned of potential continued exposure to vulnerability amid the pandemic. Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) Chairman George T. Barcelon told
the BusinessMirror the country’s rebound in trading is being threatened by the government’s Covid-19 response and supply chain concerns. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), exports grew by 7.6 percent to $17.56 billion in the first quarter. In March alone, export revenues improved
by 31.6 percent to $6.68 billion. “If there is any issue that may come into play [it] is...we are [a bit] behind the curve in having this mass inoculation,” Barcelon said. “We still have limitations in our mobility of the working class. Those are the factors that may constrain our export growth,” he added. See “Exporters,” A2
n japan 0.4381 n UK 67.5264 n HK 6.1599 n CHINA 7.4342 n singapore 35.8438 n australia 36.9343 n EU 58.2426 n SAUDI arabia 12.7540
Source: BSP (May 20, 2021)