Only 60% of projects granted perks materialize within 3 yrs

Only about 60 percent of planned foreign direct investments being qualified for various government incentives actually materialize over a period of three years, officials said yesterday.

According to Sen. Manuel Roxas II, however, the actual projects being qualified for incentives were less than the projects registered by various government agencies responsible for administering investment incentives.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) presented its second quarter national income accounts report to the joint congressional committee on economic affairs yesterday where the agency reported that total foreign direct investments in the second quarter alone amounted to P53 billion.

According to Roxas, an initial examination of announced versus actual investments indicated that only 60 percent were actually coming into the country over a three-year period.

"In fact, there has to be a systematic analysis on the lag-time to determine how long it really takes for such investments to materialize and pin-point the factors that allow them to do so," Roxas said.

Roxas told NEDA officials that formalizing and regularizing such a review and assessment would allow the government to adjust its incentives program to make it more responsive to the actual needs of industries that need them.

The Department of Finance (DOF) has already asked Congress to lift the fiscal incentives of airline companies and 36 other public and private corporations that cost the government at least P300 billion in one year alone.

Finance officials said the government’s complex incentives system has resulted in revenue losses equivalent to 6.97 percent of the annual gross domestic produc (GDP), an amount more than enough to wipe out the entire budget deficit.

With ample backing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the DOF is pushing for the repeal of at least 40 special laws that granted these incentives in order to recover revenues of up to P12.27 billion a year.

The first sweep would remove the tariff exemptions on imported aircraft fuel currently enjoyed by Philippine Airlines, Cebu Air, Pacific Airways, Air Philippines and Aboitiz Shipping.

The remaining 36 laws would affect mostly government-owned and controlled corporations including Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine Ports Authority and the country’s national museums.