DOF: Past ‘inaction’ leads to big toll hike

By Julito G. Rada

FINANCE Secretary Benjamin Diokno blamed over the weekend the “inaction” of previous administrations for the piled-up toll increases at the North Luzon Expressway.

“The NLEX rate increase is for staggered implementation—not a one-time implementation. It is staggered over several years,” Diokno said in a statement.

“The increase piled up because of the inaction of previous administrations.

The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration had to act on petitions from 2010,”

Analysts expect market to trade sideways, wait for Fed decision

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SHARE prices are expected to trade sideways this week as investors focus on developments overseas, particularly the upcoming United States Federal Reserve’s policy meeting and inflation rate release.

Local financial markets will be closed Monday to commemorate the country’s Independence Day.

Analysts said the US May inflation should drive market sentiments this week as this would provide a huge clue on the Fed’s next policy action.

Analysts said investors were anticipating the Fed to hold rates steady at its June 13 to 14 meeting if US headline inflation rate in May decelerated. This bolsters investors’ expectations that the Fed would likely pause interest rate hikes.

“A further rise in their policy rate is seen to weigh on the market, while a pause in tightening may boost sentiment. For cues on the Federal Reserve’s move, investors are also expected to watch out for the US’ upcoming May inflation report,” Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japheth Tantiangco said.

The Fed has raised interest rates 10 times since last year to curb the stubbornly-high inflation.

Online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia. com said the continued easing of the Philippines’ own inflation rate and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ recent move to cut the reserve requirement ratio were strengthening investors’ expectations that local interest rates would again remain unchanged.

“Both moves should provide tailwinds to macro fundamentals, as they wild help offset the impact of previous rate cuts,” 2TradeAsia.com said.

Pse Index Closing

Diokno said. Diokno said the petitions were carefully studied and analyzed and approved objectively and fairly.

“[The] government needs to perform its contractual obligations under the STOAs [supplemental toll operation agreements]. We’re promoting PPPs

[public-private partnerships]. And the government will have no credibility as a partner if it does not comply with its contractual obligations under past PPP contracts,” Diokno said.

Motorists will have to pay higher toll at the North Luzon Expressway starting June 15. NLEX Corp., which manages the highway, said an additional P7 would be collected in the open system, while P0.36 per kilometer would be collected in the closed system. The Toll Regulatory Board approved the adjustments.

Under the new toll matrix, an additional fee of P7 would be charged against Class 1 vehicles, P17 for Class 2 vehicles and P19 for Class 3 vehicles.

Those traveling NLEX between Metro Manila and Mabalacat City will pay an additional P33 for Class 1, P81 for Class 2 and P98 for Class 3 vehicles.

The open system covers the cities of Navotas, Valenzuela and Caloocan in Metro Manila and Meycauayan and Marilao in Bulacan.

The closed system covers the portion between Bocaue, Bulacan and Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, including Subic-Tipo.

NLEX Corp. said the new rates were part of the authorized periodic adjust- ments due 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020.

This year’s adjustment is the fourth and last tranche of the 2012 and 2014 adjustments.

NLEX Corp. said it would continue to honor the discount given to public utility jeepneys under the NLEX Pass-ada and Tsuper Card programs.

NLEX Corp. is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investment Corp.-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. MPIC in March expressed interest in acquiring the government’s 3.46-percent stake in NLEX Corp., the operator of NLEX and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.