State-owned enterprises should do their share in easing the country’s debt burden as each of the 109 million Filipinos has a P119,458 loan, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III noted on Sunday.
With debt servicing costs amounting to more than 30 percent of the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023, Pimentel called on Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) to be more prudent.
He said this huge cost of debt servicing diverts critical funds that should be used to augment social and health expenditures.
Citing reports, Pimentel said the government’s outstanding debt has already reached P13.021 trillion as of end-August and may reach P14.63 trillion by end-2023.
Citing the Department of Budget and Management’s figures, he said the government has set aside P1.63 trillion for debt service in 2023.
Of this P1.63 trillion, he said P1.019 trillion will go to principal amortization and P582.32 billion to interest payments.
It is 18.65 percent higher than this year’s debt service costs amounting to P1.326 trillion. It is also equivalent to 6.85 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, he added.
Pimentel cited, for instance, the P43 billion that the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) will borrow next year as well as the P5 billion that the National Power Corporation may borrow to fund its fuel purchases and subsidies.
He lamented how a big chunk of these borrowings will also be used to pay existing debts.
The minority leader also asked the GOCCs to exercise transparency in presenting its corporate operating budgets, including borrowings, saying there are expenditures hidden in their corporate budgets.
“You should be able to explain your financial statements in layman’s terms during our hearings so that anyone can understand them because extravagant spending of GOCCs, if there are any, contribute to the bottom line of our national debt,” Pimentel said.
Since debts incurred by the GOCCs including the National Power Corporation, the PSALM, and the Philippine National Oil Company form part of the national debt, he said it is only proper that the public is aware how these corporations are spending their funds.
