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NAIA rehab plan one step away from final OK

By Beatrice M. Laforga

THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) on Friday approved a proposal by a consortium made up of some of the country’s biggest firms to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia and Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Ruben S. Reinoso, Jr. said in separate interviews, placing the project a step away from final approval.

“That’s correct,” Mr. Pernia said by phone when asked if the project was approved in the morning NEDA-ICC meeting, adding that “the next step is to have it certified or confirmed by the NEDA Board, last step before the Swiss challenge” in which other parties are allowed to match the proponent’s offer.

Mr. Reinoso said in a text message that the Department of Transportation (DoTr) and the consortium “still need to negotiate final terms of the draft agreement” before the proposal is approved by the NEDA Board, headed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The NAIA consortium — composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. — plans to rehabilitate and expand NAIA over a 15-year period for P102 billion, increasing the airport’s capacity to 47 million in the first two years of operation and then to 65 million after four years.

Manila’s premier air gateway has long been exceeding its designed capacity, accommodating 45.3 million passengers last year, 42 million passengers in 2017 and 39.5 million in 2016 against its 30.5-million passenger capacity.

NAIA’s congestion has prompted a few groups to propose either its rehabilitation or the construction of a separate gateway. DoTr on Wednesday last week awarded the P734-billion Bulacan airport project to private proponent San Miguel Holdings Corp. which is supposed to decongest NAIA. Groundbreaking is planned before yearend. The project involves construction of a 2,400-hectare airport with four parallel runways (expandable to six runways), eight taxiways and three passenger terminal buildings. The first two runways are expected to be finished in three years at the earliest, while the rest will be completed in four to five years.

Aside from the NAIA consortium, three other unsolicited airport development and operation and maintenance (O&M) proposals have been awaiting approval by the NEDA-ICC: Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. for Bohol Panglao International Airport; Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. for Davao International Airport upgrade s; and Mega7 Construction Corp. for the Kalibo International Airport.

Mr. Pernia, NEDA’s director general, added that the NEDA ICC had also discussed the Bohol Panglao airport proposal but withheld approval. “It just needs a revision… of the phases… stages of the project,” he said in his text message. “They will do it right away.” — with inputs from Denise A. Valdez

Tourism regulator sets stage for more private sector partnerships

THE TOURISM Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) on Aug. 29 approved its own joint venture guidelines for private sector partnerships, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

TIEZA said that the guidelines COVER private sector participation in the development, operation, management, and disposition of TIEZA-owned and -controlled properties.

TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Pocholo Joselito D. Paragas said that this will help accelerate tourism infrastructure projects, provide better tourism experiences and increase revenues.

”We are confident that with the TIEZA JV guidelines, local and foreign private companies would be more interested to invest in tourism through our existing assets and our other tourism related facilities,” he said.

”We believe that the tourism sector will be reinvigorated with the contribution of industry expertise and financial capability of the private sector in managing tourism-related facilities.”

The guidelines stipulate that joint venture partners will be chosen through competitive selection, where investors respond to a solicited proposal from the agency.

They can also be chosen through a negotiated competitive challenge, whereby investors may propose a project for TIEZA-owned or controlled properties that will, in turn, be open to challenge by other parties. The guidelines note that “the party that submitted the unsolicited proposal is accorded the right to outbid any superior offer given by a comparative private sector participant.”

TIEZA will form a Joint Venture Selection Committee to select and evaluate proposals.

The guidelines will take effect immediately after publication in a newspaper on Friday. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Philippines, eight other countries join US strategic minerals initiative

THE UNITED STATES on Thursday said nine countries have joined its initiative to help discover and develop reserves of minerals used to make electric vehicles, part of an effort to cut the world’s reliance on China for the high-tech materials.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday met with foreign ministers from the nine countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The countries joining the United States include Australia, Botswana, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, the Philippines and Zambia.

Under the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) announced in June, the United States will share mining expertise with member countries to help them discover and develop their minerals such as lithium, copper and cobalt, as well as advise on management and governance frameworks to help ensure their industries are attractive to international investors.

“US companies require a certain set of above-ground conditions regardless of what’s below ground,” Frank Fannon, the top US energy diplomat, said in an interview.

Washington grew more concerned recently about its dependence on mineral imports after Beijing suggested using them as leverage in the trade war between the world’s largest economic powers. That could interrupt the manufacture of a wide range of consumer, industrial and military goods, including mobile phones, electric vehicles, batteries, and fighter jets.

Miners in Congo have struggled to secure their sites from small scale prospectors digging for minerals. In June, 43 illegal miners were killed by a landslide at a Glencore facility in Congo, highlighting the challenge.

When it first introduced ERGI, the State Department said Canada was part of the initiative, but the U.S. neighbor was not listed as a member on Thursday because Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stayed at home for the election campaign period.

A US official said the Trump administration “remains hopeful that Canada will join the initiative in the near future.”

Other nations have invested in the United States. An Australian investment group, formerly known as Morzev Pty Ltd before changing its name to USA Rare Earth, is developing the Round Top mine in Texas with Texas Mineral Resources Corp.

“Australia sees Round Top as a key investment into the US critical materials space,” said Pini Althaus, USA Rare Earth’s chief executive.

Canada’s Medallion Resources Ltd., a rival rare earths company, is considering investing in the United States and on Thursday said it found a way to automate part of its production process. — Reuters

Bourse ignores BSP rate cut, falls for second week

LOCAL SHARES on Friday ignored an expected boost to appetite from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) widely anticipated interest rate cut the preceding day and, instead, yielded to weakness on Wall Street and most other Asian bourses.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 0.97% or 77.26 points to close at 7,819.22, snapping a very gradual three-day climb — down 0.659% from the week-ago 7,871.11 on Sept. 20 — while the broader all-shares index similarly shed 0.85% or 40.53 points to 4,728.81.

“Shares slid as traders monitored the latest trade developments and assessed a whistle-blower complaint against President Donald Trump that was released,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives have begun an impeachment inquiry against Mr. Trump for allegedly pressing his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to help US investigations on the US President’s potential 2020 political rival Joe Biden in return for badly needed military aid against neighboring Russia. Mr. Zelensky has denied any impropriety in his telephone conversation with Mr. Trump.

Thursday saw the three main Wall Street indices retreat: the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.30% or 79.59 points to 26,891.12, the S&P 500 by 0.24% or 7.25 points to 2,977.62, and the Nasdaq Composite index decreased 0.58% or 46.72 points to 8,030.66.

Most major Asian indices followed suit on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices down by 0.77% and 1.17%, respectively, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng giving up 0.33%, South Korea’s Kospi dropping 1.19%, India’s S&P BSE Sensex falling by 0.43% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipping by 0.01%.

Defying a region-wide drop, the Shanghai SE Composite edged up 0.11%.

Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said that technical factors such as the relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence divergence (MACD) dictated market appetite.

“While we remain a Buy on the index, we’ve been flagging the past few days that we would prefer to wait near its recent lows at the 7,620 level given the following technical indicators — RSI breakdown of uptrend and MACD Bearish Crossover,” Mr. Perez said in an e-mail.

An MACD bearish crossover indicates that sellers are gaining control and continued weakness is likely to persist, while the RSI measures whether stocks are in overbought or oversold conditions.

All six Philippine sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by mining and oil which plummeted 2.63% or 241.74 points to 8,968.40. Property slumped 1.15% or 47.21 points to 4,068.62; holding firms went down 1.14% or 89.25 points to 7,723.44; services retreated 0.99% or 15.49 points to 1,544.02; industrial slipped 0.61% or 65.73 points to 10,556.72; while financials went down 0.22% or 3.99 points to 1,803.55.

Volume improved just slightly to 1.476 billion shares worth P5.925 billion from Thursday’s 617.197 million issues worth P5.785 billion.

Stocks that lost were more than double those that gained 133 to 57, while 43 others ended Friday flat.

Fifteen of Friday’s 20 most active stocks lost, led by the likes of AbaCore Capital Holdings, Inc. (down 8.25% to P0.89 apiece); Megaworld Corp. (6.89% to P4.46); International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (3.54% to P122.50); Alliance Global Group, Inc. (also down 3.54% to P10.90) and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (2.65% to P73.50 each).

There were four that gained: Suntrust Home Developers, Inc. by 6.9% to P0.93 apiece; Century Pacific Food, Inc. by 0.57% to P14.10; Jollibee Foods Corp. by 0.55% to P220.20 and Eagle Cement Corp. by 0.13% to P15.72% each.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the third straight session at P464.096 million, though slightly smaller than Thursday’s P472.883 million. — Arra B. Francia

DoF formally proposes to liberalize sugar imports

THE finance department has formally proposed import liberalization for the sugar industry modeled on the opening up of the rice market, signaling a showdown for another key commodity as economic managers sought to make prices more competitive.

“Quantitative restrictions need to be replaced by tariffs and safeguard measures (for subsidized products) to allow for more transparent, competitive pricing and allow downstream industries to become more viable and grow as fast as their ASEAN counterparts,” the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) currently approves import permits and determines how much can be imported for the current crop year. Imports are charged a 5% tariff.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in July that the government is taking a close look at sugar import liberalization because domestic prices are double the world market price, weighing on the competitiveness of the food processing industry.

Last year, the SRA approved imports of 250,000 metric tons of refined sugar in August, and another 150,000 metric tons of raw and refined sugar in October. This was implemented to address projections of low raw sugar production in crop year (CY) 2018-2019, which at 2.073 million MT was lower than the revised target of 2.079 MMT and the initial target of 2.25 million MT.

The production estimate for CY 2019-2020 is 2.096 million MT.

The DoF noted that in the past eight years, limiting sugar imports has raised the wholesale price of refined sugar to the equivalent of 235.8% of Thai export prices.

The food and beverage industries purchase about 40.9% and 2.8% of sugar output, respectively. The DoF noted that food processors that use sugar as a major input generated about P853 billion in revenue and employed 1.26 million workers in 2018.

“This means that consumers and downstream industries have been paying more than twice (or thrice using FAO prices) the global price for the commodity,” it said.

“…the direct action of limiting import volumes increases the level of protection far beyond the 5% tariff rate,” it added.

This has also increased effective protection rate (EPR) of the sugar industry, which penalizes consumers and prevented the growth of industries. EPR is a measure of the total effect of the tariff structure on the value added per unit of output when intermediate and final goods are imported. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

China-backed projects seen making steady progress

CHINESE Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said major Philippine infrastructure projects supported by China are making steady progress and have produced “tangible outcomes.”

In remarks delivered Thursday ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, Mr. Zhao said China and the Philippines remain “sincere partners” in development.

“Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Duterte, China-Philippine relations have moved forward steadily and have delivered tangible outcomes,” Mr. Zhao said.

“China is committed to sharing the benefits of development with the Philippines.”

He noted that China is now the country’s top trading partner, “the largest source of imports and export market as well as the second-largest tourist source.”

He added, “China has provided 2.75 billion yuan (around $398 million) of grants and $273 million of soft loans to the Philippines to support its Build Build Build Plan, and another 3 billion yuan (around $421 million) of grants will be further provided from 2019-2022.”

The envoy also said that there was progress in integrating China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Philippines’ Build, Build, Build program. Meanwhile, dozen of flagship infrastructure are expected to be completed in the coming years.

“The Chico River Pump Irrigation, New Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam and the Philippine National Railway’s South Long Haul are being pushed forward at a steady pace, and will contribute to the development of agriculture and transportation in the Philippines,” Mr. Zhao said.

Mr. Zhao also said that China will be sending agriculture and fishery experts “so that Philippine farmers and fishermen can directly enjoy the dividends of China-Philippine relations.”

Mr. Zhao said that he is committed to maintaining peace with the Philippines.

“It is our belief that South China Sea issue is not the sum total of China-Philippine relations, nor disputes the sum total of the South China Sea issue,” he said. “We would also like to make concerted efforts with the Philippines to promote substantial progress of the joint exploration of oil and gas.”

President Rodrigo R. Duterte said his Chinese counterpart has offered Manila a controlling stake in a joint energy venture in the South China Sea, if it sets aside an international arbitral award that went against Beijing. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Senate also passes resolution extending 2019 budget validity

A JOINT resolution has been filed at the Senate to extend the validity of the 2019 budget until December 2020, following second reading approval by the House of Representatives on a similar measure.

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara filed Senate Joint Resolution No. 7 which seeks to extend the availability of the 2019 appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays by a year.

“The delay in the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations Act and the election ban on the implementation of infrastructure projects and social services in view of the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections (resulted in) projects and programs for the delivery of basic services that were not implemented,” according to the resolution.

Mr. Angara’s resolution noted that there were still appropriations that have not been released and unobligated allotment which will result in the reversion of unexpended appropriations.

On Wednesday, the House approved on second reading the chamber’s Joint Resolution No. 19, which consolidates House Joint Resolution No. 9 by Antique Rep. Lorna Regina B. Legarda and House Joint Resolution No. 10 by San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo B. Zamora and Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Joel Mayo Z. Almari.

The budget passage was delayed by nearly four months, and when President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the spending plan in April he vetoed about P95.3 billion in public works items.

The 2019 budget was the first use-it-or-lose-it spending plan passed under new “cash-based” budgeting rules, which gave agencies only a year to disburse the appropriations in order to ensure that funds were spent quickly.

The budget delay has been cited as a factor in the sharp slowdown in economic growth, because of the delays in the release of infrastructure funds, which had to reach the contractors in time for the critical dry-season building window. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Inflation for bottom-30% income bracket falls further in Aug.

By Lourdes O. Pilar, Researcher

INFLATION as experienced by low-income families, cooled further in August to its slowest rise in nearly three years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The inflation rate for households in the bottom 30% of the income tables was 2.3% last month, well below the 3.1% in July and 8.3% in August 2018.

The latest reading for bottom-30% inflation was the lowest in 32 months. The medium-term low point was 2.1% in December 2016.

Year-to-date, the inflation for this income segment averaged 4.2%, lower than the 6.4% average a year earlier.

This compares with 1.7% headline inflation experienced by the average household in August, less than the 2.4% in July and 6.4% in August 2018. August’s reading matched the 1.7% logged in September 2016 and was the lowest in three years. The medium-term low is 1.3% posted in August 2016.

The PSA uses the 2012 base year in computing the headline consumer price index (CPI), while for the bottom 30% income households’ CPI, it uses 2000 prices.

Aside from the two measures having different base years, the CPI for the bottom 30% income segment of the population reconfigures the model basket of goods, assigning heavier weight to food, beverage and tobacco (FBT), as well as other necessities more representative of the spending patterns of the poor.

Inflation in the FBT index was 2.3% in August, lower than the 3.2% in July.

Inflation was steady in services at 3.3% and housing and repairs at 4.5%. Inflation fell for clothing to 2.8% from 2.9%; fuel, light and water to 0.6% from 1.2%; and “miscellaneous” items to 2.3% from 2.4%

The food-alone index eased to 1.8% from 2.7% previously.

Food accounts for 35.5% of the theoretical basket of goods used by the average household compared to a poor household’s 75%. Similarly, rice, which is part of the food index, comprises 9.6% of an average household’s consumer price index basket compared to 23% for a poor household.

PSA noted that indices for rice, corn and cereals each registered declines of 1.9% during the month. Increases were noted for cereal preparations (3.3% in August from 3.2% in July) and eggs (3.1% from 2.8%).

Meanwhile, weaker readings were recorded in the indices of dairy products (to 2.5% from 2.8%); fish (to 7% from 7.8%); fruits and vegetables (to 3.8% from 6.3%); meat (to 1.3% from 1.7%); and miscellaneous foods (to 2.9% from 3.2%).

UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in an e-mail that food and fuel prices have been the “driver” for the slowdown.

“The decline in annual increases of food and fuel prices have been the driver. Global oil prices have been on the decline and expectations are for continuing decrease through 2021,” said Mr. Asuncion, adding that the Rice Tariffication Law has had an impact on the price of domestically-grown rice.

The law, which was signed on Feb. 14, liberalized imports which now have to pay a tariff of 35% on shipments of Southeast Asian grain, and has effectively reduced retail prices of the staple.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a separate e-mail that inflation for the bottom 30% was the “slowest” in more than 2.5 years.

“It may have been largely due to lower prices of rice, food, and basic commodities compared to a year ago amid the effects of the Rice Tariffication Law that increased the country’s rice imports as well as the local supply of rice, thereby also leading to the sharp year-on-year decline in palay prices as well as some decline in the retail prices of milled rice,” he said.

“Lower prices of food and agricultural products compared to a year ago partly due to the government’s non-monetary measures since late last year in an effort to increase local supply and lower the prices of rice, fish, corn, and other food items in an effort to lower headline inflation also contributed to the sharp slowdown in inflation for the poorest households, since a larger part of their incomes goes to food and other basic necessities compared to other households with much higher incomes,” Mr. Ricafort added.

Inflation experienced by poor households in the National Capital declined to 0.1% in August from 0.9% recorded in July, while those living outside of Metro Manila experienced inflation of 2.4%, down from 3.1%.

RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort expects inflation for the bottom 30% to fall further in the coming months, adding that it “would remain relatively lower largely due higher base/denominator effects.”

“This is seen to further decline and settle within the headline inflation target of the government at 2.0% to 4.0%,” UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion said.

Congressman rejects ‘pork’ claims in House budget

A LEGISLATOR said Friday that the 2020 budget approved last week by the House of Representatives contained no “pork,” contrary to allegations made by a Senator.

Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Michael T. Defensor rejected claims by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson that all 22 deputy speakers each have an additional allocation of P1.5 billion, while each member of the House has been P700 million.

“Walang pork barrel dito sa naipasang (budget) (There is no pork barrel in the approved budget) and the Senate can scrutinize it. Ito naman ay isusumite sa kanila. (It will be submitted to them anyway). Pangalawa, yung budget na sinasabi sa deputy speakers, wala rin pong ganun (There is no extra funding for deputy speakers)“ Mr. Defensor said in a news conference.

He added that the approved budget for the House was P15.6 billion, higher than last year’s P14 billion.

“Because the increase of the budget was from P14 billion… to P15.6 billion. Kapag dinivide mo ‘yan, halos pantay lang (most members will receive reoughly the same amount). In fact, di naman pera ng congressmen ‘yan, kasi yang pondong yan kasama yung mga empleyado ng kongreso, security guard, operating expenses, kuryente, tubig (those funds aren’t for congressmen but for their operating expenses, employees, and utilities)” Mr. Defensor said.

Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. S. Salceda said earlier that legislators will receive about P100 million each under the proposed 2020 national budget.

In response, Mr. Defensor, who is also the vice chairperson of the House committee on health, said that he requested P500 million to address issues in provincial hospitals.

“Yung P100 million was part of the submission… Ang totoong ni-request ko is about P500 million. Bakit? Kausap ko yung Tawi-Tawi kailangan nila dun ng improvement sa ospital. Kausap ko yung sa Ifugao, yung sa pagtatapos ng kanilang ospital. Kausap ko yung magtatayo ng dialysis centers sa Pampanga at Batangas, pero di ko inexpect na maapprove ako. Request ko lang yun at batay lang yun sa nakikita ko sa nakikita kong pangangailangan sa baba (The 100 million was part of the submission because I requested about P500 million for health facilities in Tawi-Tawi, Ifugao, Pampanga and Batangas. That’s just what I requested based on what I saw were the needs on the ground).“ he said.

“Habang pinapalaki natin ang pondo ng PhilHealth, pagalingin din natin yung mga local hospitals natin para may mapuntahan ang mga tao at di masyadong mahal (While we are providing funds for PhilHealth, we need t improve local hospitals so patients can visit a facility at little expense),” he said.

The P88 billion proposed budget of the Department of Health was slashed by around P10 billion for health services. Meanwhile, government subsidies to PhilHealth and government hospitals have a total allocation of P71.4 billion. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Palay farmgate prices continue falling in Sept.

THE average farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, fell 2.4% from a week earlier during the first week of September to P16.28 per kilogram (kg), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The PSA said the average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell 0.4% week-on-week to P38.62 per kg. At retail, the price fell 0.3% to P42.26.

The wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 0.6% to P34.40 per kg week-on-week. The retail price fell 0.4% to P37.83.

The PSA also reported that the farmgate price of both yellow and white corn grain fell during the period. Week-on-week, the farmgate price of yellow corn grain fell 0.2% to P13.04 per kg. The average wholesale price was stable at P21.53, but the retail price rose 0.4% to P26.06.

The average farmgate price of white corn grain fell 1.0% week-on-week to P14.38 per kg. The average wholesale price dropped 0.9% to P17.67. The average retail price fell 0.5% to P26.78. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Electronics-dependent economies seen taking a hit from trade war

ECONOMIES in developing Asia heavily exposed to the electronics sector could suffer disproportionately from the US-China trade war, economists tracking the region said.

“Electronics is more important to developing Asia compared to the rest of the world,” Abdul Abiad, director for Macroeconomic Research at the Asian Development Bank’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation (ERRC) Department at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

He was speaking at a forum jointly organized by the ASEAN Society of the Philippines and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) in Makati on Sept. 27.

Mr. Abiad noted that electronics make up more than half of the Philippines’ exports. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, electronics accounted for 55.6% of export sales in July, up 2.9% year-on-year.

The region could also benefit from the trade tensions when manufacturers relocate to evade tariffs.

“On the whole, the trade conflict could potentially benefit the rest of developing Asia… It’s now more expensive… for US customers to buy goods from China,” Mr. Abiad said.

According to Park Cyn-Young, also a director at the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division of ADB’s ERRC, ASEAN’s share of the world’s exports grew to 7% in 2018 from 6% in 2006.

In the midst of a global slowdown, the ADB has trimmed its growth forecast for developing Asia, which includes 45 countries in the Asia and the Pacific, to 5.4% in 2019 from its initial forecast of 5.7%. For 2020, the regional lender expects such countries to grow 5.5%, down from their initial forecast of 5.6%.

ADB has likewise further scaled down its outlook on Philippine economic growth to 6% from its already downgated 6.2% outlook in July.

Despite the global headwinds, ADB country director for the Philippines Kelly Bird said Thursday that “reasons why Philippine economic growth is resilient (are)… very strong macroeconomic policy settings, lower inflation, with rather low national debt… and the policy setting in terms of central bank and fiscal setting are really sound.” — Luz Wendy T. Noble

LGUs ordered to certify projects backed by support fund are ongoing

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said local government units (LGUs) have until Nov. 30 to submit a certification for the awarded contracts covered by assitance from a support fund assistance.

According to DBM’s local budget circular no. 116B, awarded contracts funded through the Local Government Support Fund — Assistance to Cities (LGSF-AC) will have to be certified as ongoing and due for completion on a specific date beyond this year.

The certification should also cite the amounts received and to be disbursed to contractors and should be signed by the Mayor and the City Accountant.

DBM said the certification will ensure “timely completion of projects” supported by the funding scheme.

“Concerned LGUs are requested to submit a certification signed by the City Mayor and the City Accountant that: (i) the project is already ongoing and will be completed on a specific date but beyond 31 December 2019; and (ii) the funds received from the LGSF-AC will be disbursed to the concerned contractor according to the approved payment schedule/progress billing,” according to the circular.

The LGSF-AC is used to finance the construction, rehabilitation, repair or improvement of public open spaces.

The circular, dated Sept. 25, was signed by DBM Acting Secretary Wendel E. Avisado.

Meanwhile, an earlier Circular No. 116-A quoted in the statement said that “funds which remain unutilized as of 31 December 2019 shall be reverted to the National Treasury by the recipient cities.” — Beatrice M. Laforga

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