Neda nixes oil excise halt amid price hikes By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad
& Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
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CONSUMER group is asking the government to suspend the excise tax on petroleum products to provide relief to many sectors amid the pandemic, as oil companies announced another round of price hikes effective midnight Tuesday. The top government economist, however, said suspending the excise tax is not yet necessary at this point, and that the pressures caused by rising oil prices have already been factored into the infla-
tion projections. Laban Konsyumer President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said such suspension of the excise tax is in line with Presidential Proclamation 1218, which allows the national government to monitor and control prices of necessities and prime commodities. “[I] a m i nvok i ng P residential Proclamation 1218 and the President can by executive order suspend the excise taxes on fuel products for a limited period, every two weeks interval, and this will be a big help to all consumers across all sectors,” he told the BusinessMirror. He said suspending excise taxes
of P10 for gasoline, P6 for diesel and kerosene and P3 for liquified petroleum gas is a “big assistance to mitigate unavoidable pass on costs of goods and services to all sectors.” The consumer group noted that the year-to-date retail prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene are currently at P16.55, P15 and P12.70, respectively. The excise tax regime is based on the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TR AIN) previously, which mandates increasing rates from 2018 to 2020. However, the TRAIN law allowed for suspending the scheduled in-
crease when the average Dubai crude oil based on Mean of Platts Singapore reaches at least $80 per barrel. Meanwhile, the consumer group also proposed to conduct tax investigation of all oil companies for windfall profits to assess tax compliance.
Neda, DOF chief
WITH oil prices hitting $80 per bar rel, suspend ing prov isions of the TR AIN Law may not be necessar y to keep inf lation at bay, accord ing to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Continued on A2
FDI NET INFLOWS RISE
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Tuesday, October 12, 2021 Vol. 17 No. 4
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages |
52% IN JULY, POST $1.3B
DOF: We’ll buy Covid booster shots this year
By Bianca Cuaresma
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@BcuaresmaBM
ONG-TERM investments made by foreign investors in the Philippines rose for the second consecutive month in July as the world continues to reopen its economy, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday. Data showed that foreign direct investments (FDI) to the Philippines hit a net inflow of $1.3 billion in July, up 52 percent from the $831 million in the same month last year. FDI are investments made by foreign players in the Philippines in the hopes of long-term return. Since these are in the country for a longer term compared to their short-term counterpart—the foreign portfolio investments (FPI) — FDI usually create jobs for Filipinos and have a multiplier effect on the economy. The BSP attributed the increase in FDI net inflows in July this year mainly to the 61.1-percent growth year-on-year in investments in debt instruments to $1.1 billion from $667 million. Similarly, reinvestment of earnings rose by 87.1 percent to $155 million from $83 million. July’s FDI growth brought the cumulative FDI net inflows to $5.6 billion, 43.1 percent higher than the $3.9-billion net inflows in the first seven months of 2020. This was mainly on account of the 78.7-percent expansion in nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments to $3.9 billion, from $2.2 billion. Likewise, reinvestment of earnings reached $677 million, 19.3 percent higher than the $567 million. Net investments in equity capital decreased by 12.4 percent due to the downturn in placements by 9.5 percent to $1.2 billion from $1.4 billion, and the increase in withdrawals by 6 percent to $223 million from $210 million.
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MANILA residents line up at the Comelec remote registration site at Tutuban Mall in Manila as the Commission on Elections resumed voter registration for the 2022 polls and began accepting applicants anew until end-October.The resumption of voter registration followed the week-long filing of certificates of candidacy which kept Comelec staff busy attending to aspirants for the May 9, 2022 vote. ROY DOMINGO
‘DIGITAL GENDER GAP COST NATIONS $1-T GDP LOSS’
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OW- and lower-middleincome countries, including the Philippines, lost $1 trillion in GDP in the last 10 years due to the gender gap in the digital divide, according to a new study. T he study, “ T he Costs of Exclusion: Economic Consequences of the Digital Gender Gap” conducted by the World Wide Web Foundation and the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), asserted that barriers preventing women from accessing the Internet and participating online are costing economies. The report estimated that in 2020, the digital gender gap cost these economies a total of $126 billion. This represented a loss of more than $24 billion in tax revenues, funds that could be used to invest in education, health, and infrastructure programs. “This report reveals just how expensive gender inequality is for all of us. Investing in a more inclusive digital future gives lead-
ers a tremendous opportunity to promote economic growth while creating healthier societies,” Boutheina Guermazi, Director of Digital Development, World Bank and A4AI Advisory Council member, said. “For governments looking to build a resilient economy as part of their Covid-19 recovery plans, closing the digital gender gap should be one of the top priorities,” she added.
PHL: Rising trend favors women
IN the Philippines, however, the digital gender gap favored women more than men. Internet access among women and men have also improved over time, increasing to above 60 percent in 2020 from below 20 percent, at least for women, in 2011. Between 2011 and 2016, the Internet access of men was higher than that of women. But starting in 2017, there was a reversal that saw women’s access online to surpass men. In 2017, women’s internet ac-
cess was at 56 percent while that of men was at 48 percent. This gradually improved to 67 percent for women and 65 percent for men in 2020. But other low- and lowermiddle income countries in the region were still struggling. Only Mongolia has reversed the trend in 2019, where women now had more access to the Internet than men at 72 percent versus 71 percent. The trend in Mongolia is holding: in 2020, women’s access to the Internet increased to 78 percent while men’s access remained at 71 percent. However, this showed a wider digital gender divide that favored women. “Closing the digital gender gap is not just a moral cause, it is also an economic imperative. As the Internet becomes a more potent enabler for education, business, and community mobilization, a failure to deliver access for all means failing to realize everyone’s potential to contribute. Governments that enable women to fully partici-
pate in the digital revolution will unlock a wealth of creativity and productivity,” Web Foundation Director of Research Catherine Adeya said. The report estimates that closing the digital gender gap would add an estimated $524 billion in economic activity over the next five years. By investing to enable more women to use the Internet and participate in the digital economy, governments have a substantial opportunity to generate economic growth. To promote a more inclusive digital economy, the report encourages governments to look holistically at the barriers that impede women’s and girls’ access to the Internet. It urges them to develop comprehensive broadband strategies that include infrastructure investment, transparent policy targets, and programs to deliver digital skills and literacy training, promote women’s and girls’ rights, and address safety and privacy concerns. Cai U. Ordinario
HE national government is bent on purchasing booster shots this year as the Philippines will be able to secure new financing before the end of 2021, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven told reporters the new financing will be obtained from the Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by November; and World Bank by December or January next year for this purpose. The new financing, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said, is “almost like a syndicated loan” and that the Philippines was ahead of other countries in securing this type of financing. “We are not going to buy it next year, we are going to buy it this year. Additional financing [will be secured for this purpose],” Joven said. “The objective here is to have a seamless delivery of vaccines. So starting from January 1, we’ll withdraw from the new supply agreements already [to prevent any] disruption.” Dominguez also noted that the government has started talking to vaccine manufacturers as early as last month. With this, he stressed, the government is “not scrambling” to purchase vaccines. The DOF official said, however, that a recent meeting with the British Minister for Asia highlighted the issue surrounding the delay in vaccine deliveries. Nonetheless, Dominguez said, the government remains on top of the situation and tries to be as proactive as possible to secure the needed supplies. “We are trying to be as proactive as possible, proactive as possible, to make sure that we’ll be ready with a follow-on dose for next year,” Dominguez said. While the subsidy of booster shots is already in the budget for 2022, Dominguez said, the next administration can also keep this in mind since vaccines serve as an insurance. Dominguez said subsidizing Covid-19 vaccines is an investment in the health of Filipinos and can help ensure that the economy will recover faster.
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PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.4870
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n JAPAN 0.4498 n UK 68.7835 n HK 6.4853 n CHINA 7.8347 n SINGAPORE 37.2708 n AUSTRALIA 36.8757 n EU 58.4337 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4625
Source: BSP (October 11, 2021)