National Government to pre-fund 2003 deficit

The National Government (NG) is preparing to front-load its borrowing to pre-fund its programmed P142-billion budget deficit for next year, opening the possibility of converting its September "no-deal" international roadshow into a "deal" roadshow.

"The September roadshow was primarily for promotions with no specific loan deal being prepared, but the government is ready to convert the presentation if good rates will be available," Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho said yesterday.

Sponsored by UBS, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, the roadshow will have a European, an Asian and a North American leg to be led by Camacho and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael Buenaventura.

"These are going to be investor conferences and would hopefully help our borrowings in the future," Camacho said. "Communication is very important, " he added.

Although the economic team did not intend to borrow, they may, however, end up negotiating loans if the offered rates are attractive.

"Our options are open, if the rates are attractive we can start to pre-fund our 2003 deficit," Camacho said.

Camacho said his team is scheduled to make a tour of Singapore, London and Washington to attend the World Bank-IMF meeting while Buenaventura will go to London, New York and Washington.

Next year, the Arroyo administration is planning to borrow heavily as it laid out its P182.766-billion borrowing plan that would increase its project loans by a whopping 45.6 percent from P26.309 billion to P38.308 billion.

DOF documents show that the administration is planning to borrow P182.766 billion next year from the foreign sources, up from P155.729 billion that it plans to borrow this year.

Based on the 2003 borrowing program, the biggest increase is on project loans as the government prepares for the 2004 presidential elections which, according to sources, historically perks up government spending on high-profile infrastructure projects.

In 2001, project loans amounted to P24.747 billion and this is expected to go up marginally to P26.309 billion this year. Sources said the 46-percent jump in 2003 is an indication of increased spending on infrastructure spending.

The government’s foreign borrowing for 2003 was based on its proposed budget which is projected to create a yawning P142-billion deficit.