CPSD hits P147.62B in ’01

The country’s consolidated public sector deficit (CPSD) amounted to P147.62 billion for the whole of 2001, lower than the P166.52-billion target and the P151.66 billion recorded in 2000, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Last year’s CPSD was equivalent to 4.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), slightly better than the 4.4-percent share in 2000.

While the public sector funding requirement (PSFR) went up slightly to P189 billion in 2001 from P179.56 billion in 2000, the BSP said it was within target although it excluded the accounts of the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF) and privatization.

The PSFR is one of the fiscal indicators being monitored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The BSP said total government revenues amounted to only P563.7 billion in 2001 as against expenditures of P710.8 billion, resulting in a cash deficit of more than P147 billion.

Due to declining interest rates, servicing for both domestic and foreign borrowings declined by P4.8 billion to only P27.2 billion in 2001.

In 2001, the average interest rates on the bellwether 91-day Treasury bills (T-bills) stood at 9.7 percent compared to the programmed 10 percent to 11 percent.

The BSP also reported that the Central Bank Restructuring Account, representing the cost for paying old liabilities of the CB, generated a total cash deficit of P23.5 billion.

The CPSD included the accounts of 14 government corporations which the BSP said generated a deficit of P21.7 billion.

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) accounted for P8 billion of total deficit incurred by government corporations, representing money it spent on the acquisition of fixed assets.

Despite the huge CPSD, the BSP said the relative improvement in the fiscal position of the BSP as well as the government financial institutions offset the negative fiscal position of other public sectors.

The biggest cash surplus, according to the BSP, was generated by the Social Security Institutions except for Social Security System (SSS) which incurred a negative cash balance.