Budget and Taxes

*  BusinessWorld , Dec. 26, 2022. ----------- Here is this column’s assessment of important macroeconomic events this year especially in the fiscal and monetary sectors, five global and five national. Covered are the major economies in the world arranged by region, and biggest GDP size per region. 1. G7, China, and Russian growth declined significantly. The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries — the United States of America (US), Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Italy — renewed their growth slowdown this year after a modest recovery last year. And for the first time since 1991 or three decades ago, China this year will grow below 6%, aside from 2020’s global contraction. Russia will have another contraction as a result of the various sanctions against it after its invasion of Ukraine. But most ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries will have faster growth this year than last year. 2. G7 countries have hit 37 to 70 years inflation r...

* BusinessWorld , December 12, 2022. -------------- This column continues to monitor many economic issues and developments. There are 10 topics tackled here. 1. Public debt has reached P14 trillion Last week, the Bureau of the Treasury released fiscal data for October 2022. The budget deficit has reached P1.1 trillion, interest payment alone is P43.3 billion/month average and likely to reach P520 billion by end of this year. Total outstanding public debt has reached P14 trillion, actual plus guaranteed. The public debt has been rising by P2 trillion/year from 2020 to 2022 or three years straight, not a good fiscal condition. The debt should significantly decline starting next year. Control should be on the spending side by the national government. 2. Inflation has reached 8%, a 14-year high Also last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that November inflation was 8%, a 14-year high. This is indeed high, but taking the average for 2022, we have a 5.6% inflation rate...

* BusinessWorld , December 5, 2022. ------------ At the  BusinessWorld  Economic Forum on Nov. 29 at the Grand Hyatt Manila in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno outlined in his keynote speech an optimistic growth trajectory for the Philippines, the overall fiscal resources and debt reduction needed, and investment liberalization policies that have been institutionalized. He also briefly mentioned the establishment of a state-owned sovereign wealth fund (SWF). THE MAHARLIKA INVESTMENT FUND (MIF) The MIF, the Philippines’ SWF as proposed by the House leadership under House Bill 6398, ‘has attracted mostly negative reactions from researchers and corporate players in the country. See for instance these reports and columns in  BusinessWorld : “Medalla voices caution over plans to create $4.9B sovereign fund” (Dec. 2), “PHL not ready for sovereign wealth fund — analysts” (Dec. 5), “The Maharlika Wealth Fund,” Yellow Pad by Filomeno S. Sta. Ana I...

* BusinessWorld , Nov. 28, 2022. -------------- The  BusinessWorld  Economic Forum (BWEF) 2022 today, Nov. 29, has as its theme, “Forecast 2023: Opportunity in Uncertainty.” I want to contribute to the discussion on economic forecast and projections in relation to the recently concluded big annual conference, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2022 or 27th Conference of Parties of UNFCCC (COP 27) in Egypt that ended on Nov. 19. PROJECTIONS 2022 AND 2023 The Philippines had the deepest economic contraction in Asia in 2020 at -9.5%, followed by a mild recovery of 5.7% in 2021. This year, it is on the way to having the fourth fastest growth in East and South Asia at around 7.8%. The multilaterals, especially the ADB through its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) September 2022 Update, and the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) October 2022 Update, have bad and low projections of only 6.5% Philippines growth this year, even if they knew that growth in quarters ...

* BusinessWorld  Nov. 21, 2022. ---------- Today and tomorrow I am attending the Pilipinas Conference 2022, organized by Stratbase ADR Institute, held at the Ayala Museum in Makati City. I thank Stratbase president, friend, and fellow BusinessWorld columnist Dindo Manhit, for the invitation. Among the Keynote Speakers of the two-day conference are Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Nov. 21, and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Nov. 22. This morning, Secretary Pangandaman spoke about “Open Government and Digitization Efforts of the DBM.” Among the things she said are: building a CSO (certified security officer) desk in the DBM to directly link the public to the agency, a P12.47-billion budget for ICT (information and communications technology) and digitalization programs and projects in 2023 for the digital transformation of the government’s procurement process, and diminish human discretion in government transactions. These are good initia...