Budget and Taxes

The Laffer Curve of Philippine tobacco taxation, redux June 6, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Shar https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/06/06/599851/the-laffer-curve-of-philippine-tobacco-taxation-redux/ There have been plenty of reports and articles recently about tobacco smuggling and vapes. See these stories in  BusinessWorld  alone: “Lawmaker wants bill curbing illicit tobacco trade prioritized” (May 27), “Illegal tobacco trade eating government revenues away — BIR” (May 29), “Health department says vape products not a safer alternative to cigarettes” (May 30), “P10.2-M cigarettes seized in Sulu” (June 2), “Economic sabotage bill may deter tobacco smuggling, JTI says” (June 3), “BIR gets tough on vape stamps” (June 4). Even Yellow Pad, another opinion column in this paper, has taken a strong anti-illicit trade position with their recent pieces, “Support the BIR, strengthen the law to  fi ght illicit trade” (May 27) and “Protecting key provisions

  Philippine economic expansion and endless pursuit for prosperity May 30, 2024 | 12:01 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Share https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/05/30/598193/philippine-economic-expansion-and-endless-pursuit-for-prosperity/ At Monday’s Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) at the Philippine International Convention Center, which had the theme “PH On-the-Go: Fast-Tracking Economic Progress,” the keynote address was given by Fi-nance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who correctly described the Philippines’ growth trend as having a “bright economic outlook supported by a more open and liberalized investment policy landscape.” He said they plan to “lift 14 million Filipinos out of poverty by 2028… position the country as the 13th largest consumer market globally by 2030… [have a] a trillion-dollar economy by 2033 and surpass France to become the 14th largest economy in the world by 2075.” Since these are global macroeconomic scanning and projections, I checked

Growth momentum key to Philippines’ upper middle-income goal May 28, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/05/28/597618/growth-momentum-key-to-philippines-upper-middle-income-goal/#google_vignette At the BusinessWorld Economic Forum (BWEF) 2024, which was held on May 22 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan reiterated the economic team’s target of having the Philippines become an upper middle-income country (UMIC) by 2025. See this story in BusinessWorld, “PHL on track to reach upper middle-income status, says NEDA chief” (May 24). A UMIC is a country that has a gross national income (GNI) of between $4,466 to $13,845 per person per year. GNI is computed by taking gross domestic product (GDP) minus net primary income from abroad (NPIA), mainly but not entirely overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances. In 2023, the GNI of the Philippines at current or

  PHL deficit across 7 administrations May 21, 2024 | 12:02 am By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2024/05/21/596204/phl-deficit-across-7-administrations/ Share Last week, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) launched a legacy book, 50 Years in Harmony: A Historical Review of the Development Budget Coordination Committee commemorating the 50th anniversary of DBCC, which spanned from 1970 to 2020. It was held at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) offices. I downloaded the online copy — 321 pages — and among the contributors are DBM Undersecretary and Chief Economist Joselito R. Basilio, former DBM Ministers Jaime Laya and Alberto Romulo, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, former Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, Bangko Sentral Governor Eli Remolona, and DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman. Among the chapters that caught my attention was

  PHL growth resilience amid a deteriorating global economy May 14, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr Shar https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2024/05/14/594669/phl-growth-resilience-amid-a-deteriorating-global-economy/ Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the growth data of the first quarter (Q1) of 2024. It was 5.7%, lower than the projected 6% or higher. Economic pessimists jumped on the discrepancy to say that they were correct in their regular attacks against the policies of the current government economic team and the administration. Except that they forgot about or deliberately omitted showing the growth rate of our Asian neighbors and other countries in the world. In Q1 2024, Taiwan had the fastest gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.5% — but it was more of a base effect as Taiwan’s economy contracted by -3.5% in Q1 2023. So, Vietnam and Philippines were the co-leaders when it came to fast growth in Q1 — but then a

  On declining inflation and unemployment, and trade with China May 9, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/05/09/593582/on-declining-inflation-and-unemployment-and-trade-with-china/ This week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released three important pieces of economic data — the inflation rate for April, and the unemployment rate and international trade numbers for March. To put the Philip-pines data in context, I update the data for other countries to see what the trends are over the past few years or quarters. DECLINING INFLATION RATE The Philippines’ inflation rate continues its deceleration at 3.8% in April 2024 vs 6.6% in April 2023 — this is good. This same trend is true for many other countries and the challenge for the various stakeholders here is how to bring this down further, to below 3%, in the coming months. Especially the food inflation rate which remains stubbornly high at 5.6% and 6% in March

  Privatize assets to cut debt April 30, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/04/30/591702/privatize-assets-to-cut-debt/ There have been some good reports on the Philippines’ fiscal situation early this year. See these recent stories in  BusinessWorld : “Debt service bill falls by 22% in Feb.” (April 22), “Budget deficit narrows in March” (April 25), and “NG gross borrowings fall in March” (April 29). I checked the cash operations report released last week by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, then compared it with first quarter data of 2019 to 2023. Here are some of the highlights. HIGHER REVENUES, DECLINING DEFICIT 1. For the first time, revenues have breached the P900 billion mark this year. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected nearly P600 billion, but the Bureau of Customs has been a laggard, with a nearly flat performance as in 2023. 2. The interest payment is high at nea