EDGEDAVAO
Stat Watch
1. Gross National Income Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)
3.5% 4th Qtr 2011
2. Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)
3.7% 4th Qtr 2011 USD 3,342 Million Nov 2011 USD 4,985 Million Nov 2011 USD -1,643 Million Nov 2011 USD -114 Million Dec 2011 P4,442,355 Million Nov 2011
3. Exports 1/ 4. Imports 1/ 5. Trade Balance 6. Balance of Payments 2/ 7. Broad Money Liabilities 8. Interest Rates 4/
4.71% Oct 2011 P128,745 Million Nov 2011 P 4,898 Billion Oct 2011
9. National Government Revenues 10. National government outstanding debt
P 43.65 Dec 2011
11. Peso per US $ 5/ 12. Stocks Composite Index 6/
3,999.7 Sept 2011
13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100
128.1 Jan 2012
14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100
3.9 Jan 2012
15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100
3.4 Dec 2011
16. Visitor Arrivals
284,040 Sept 2011
17. Underemployment Rate 7/
19.1% Oct 2011
18. Unemployment Rate 7/
6.4% Oct 2011
MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011) Month
2011
2010
2009
Average December November October September August July June May April March
43.31 43.64 43.27 43.45 43.02 42.42 42.81 43.37 43.13 43.24 43.52
45.11 43.95 43.49 43.44 44.31 45.18 46.32 46.30 45.60 44.63 45.74
47.637 46.421
February
43.70
46.31
January
44.17
46.03
47.032 46.851 48.139
48.161 48.146 47.905 47.524 48.217
48.458 47.585 47.207
THE ECONOMY
VOL.5 ISSUE 66 • JUNE 05, 2012
5
Government deficit down in Q1 T
HE government is on track to meeting its revenue and deficit targets for the year, as more resources are collected to support a growing economy and contain the budget deficit, official data show. Data from the Department of Finance show that revenues accounted for 14.9 percent of economic output in the first three months of 2012, an increase from last year’s 14.4 percent, which also happened to be the target for this year. Tax collections, meanwhile, accounted for 12.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, jumping from 11.8 percent year-on-year. Fullyear target is 13.2 percent. More revenues helped contain the budget deficit as of March, accounting only to 0.8 percent of GDP as against last year’s 1.2 percent. The government has a 2.6 percent goal for the year. Last year, the national gov-
ernment posted a budget deficit of P197.754 billion, equivalent to 2 percent of GDP. Revenues surged to P1.359 trillion or 14 percent of GDP, while tax collections of P1.202 trillion accounted for 12.34 percent. Comparison of deficit, revenue and tax collections against GDP growth provides a clearer view of how much the government is collecting to support a growing economy and lessen its necessity to borrow. The rationale is as the economy expands, more revenues are collected by the government. For the first quarter of 2012, the economy expanded by 7.7 percent in nominal terms, while collections from revenue agencies were up 11.4 percent. In constant 2000 prices, the Philippine economy posted a stellar 6.4 percent growth in the January to March period— the strongest in almost two years and among South East Asian nations —driven mainly by domes-
tic demand and higher exports. “Our sustained focus on improving tax administration efficiency continues to bear fruit. We believe that as we move toward the latter part of the year, we will continue to see better results on the part of revenue agencies as reforms are continued to be undertaken,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said over the weekend. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which accounts for about 70 percent of tax revenues, improved collections to 9.5 percent of GDP from 8.9 percent in the first quarter comparable periods. It aims to hit 9.8 percent revenue effort by the end of this year, an increase from 9.5 percent recorded last year. The Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, notched a 2.9 percent revenue-to-GDP ratio, inching up from 2.8 percent during the same period. It has a full-year target of 3.4 percent, higher than its last year’s performance of 2.8
percent. “Double-digit collection growths posted by BIR and Customs are way faster than how the economy expanded in the first quarter, leading to better revenue efforts for both bureaus,” Purisima said. As of March, BIR collections rose 14.8 percent to P229.044 billion as against P199.549 billion hauled last year. Customs, for its part, nudged an 11 percent uptick during the same period, raising a total of P69.529 billion, up from P62.618 billion. Deficit, as a result, is wellcontained at P33.909 billion, well below the P82.808-billion first quarter cap. “During the first quarter, the economy expanded by more than expected despite a narrower deficit. We are committed to continuously pursue a faster, sustainable and inclusive growth while being mindful of our fiscal consolidation process,” Purisima said. (PNA)
Filipino community, embassy are PHL endorsers in London
T
HE Filipino community and the consular office in the United Kingdom have been active partners of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s efforts to push the Philippines as an alternative investment site to foreign investors by working hand-in-hand with each other to promote the Filipino culture to the world, an embassy official said. An estimated one million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the professional (nurses, accountants and engineers), highly skilled (electricians) and service (waiters and domestic helpers) sectors reside in the United Kingdom. In an interview, Enrique Manalo, Philippine Ambassador to the UK, said this “very vibrant and active community” has been a key ingredient in the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries. “They (OFWs) are working together with the embassy to see how we can promote Philippine culture here in the UK because ultimately the strength of our bilateral relationship is the fact that many UK citizens live and work in the Philippines while a number of Filipinos also work and reside in the UK,” Manalo said. He added that part of their plans to promote Philippine culture is to expose our friends in the UK to our time honored festivals and significant events in Philippine history such as our Independence Day on June 12. “It is in this interaction between the embassy and the Filipino communities that we are together ultimately to promote the Philippines and the Filipino culture,” Manalo said.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. Davao City Water District employees plant trees inside Mt. Tipolog-Tamugan watershed. Arvin S. Medina and Jerika Evan F. Rasuman of the Production Department are among the first batch of volunteers of the 3rd DCWD employees tree planting who planted 300 Malobago seedlings held May 18. Another batch will be planting at the same site on June 8. These activities are part of the water utility’s efforts to restore and protect the major watersheds in Davao City to help ensure water resource sustainability for the future generations.
as of august 2010
Cebu Pacific Daily Zest Air Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Philippine Airlines Daily Philippine Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun Philippine Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Silk Air Mon/Wed/Sat Cebu Pacific Thu Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat
5J961 / 5J962 Z2390 / Z2390 5J593 / 5J348 PR809 / PR810 PR819 / PR820 5J394 / 5J393 5J599 / 5J594 5J347 / 5J596 5J963 / 5J964 PR811 / PR812 5J595 / 5J966 MI588 / MI588 5J965 / 5J968 5J965 / 5J968
5:45 5:45 6:00 6:10 7:50 7:50 8:00 9:10 9:40 11:30 12:00 18:55 12:55 13:35
Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Cebu-Davao-Iloilo Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga Cebu-Davao-Cebu Iloilo-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Cebu-Davao-Manila Davao-Cebu-Singapore Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila
6:15 6:25 6:30 7:00 8:50 8:10 8:30 9:40 10:10 12:20 12:30 13:35 13:25 14:05
Silk Air Thu/Sun Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri Philippine Airlines August Zest Air Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Philippines Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Tue/Sat/Sun Cebu Pacific Daily Airphil Express Daily Philippine Airlines Daily except Sunday Philippine Airlines Sunday
MI566 / MI566 5J507 / 5J598 15:55 Z2524 / Z2525 5J967 / 5J600 PR813 / PR814 5J215 / 5J216 5971 / 5J970 5J973 / 5J974 5J969 / 5J972 2P987 / 2P988 PR821 / PR822 PR821 / PR822
18:55 15:00 Mani2Mani 16:05 16:35 16:55 18:00 18:40 20:00 20:30 20:30 21:20 22:20
Davao-Singapore Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:50 Cebu-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Manila Cagayan de Oro-Davao-Cagayan de Oro Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila
15:20 15:30 16:45 17:05 17:45 18:20 19:10 20:30 21:00 21:00 21:50 22:50