Gov’t sees public sector surplus of P56.8B in ’08

The government is eyeing to record a consolidated public sector surplus of P56.8 billion this year from the programmed deficit of P21.8 billion for 2007, latest data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed.

As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), the P56.8-billion public sector surplus that was programmed for this year is 0.8 percent.

The programmed surplus for 2007 of P21.8 billion, meanwhile, is 0.3 percent of the country’s total economic output.

The country’s consolidated public sector fiscal position is the combined budget deficits or surpluses of the National Government (NG) and state-owned firms.

These include government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs), local government units and government financial institutions. It is closely monitored by local and foreign debt watchers as it is an indication of a country’s credit risk.

In coming up with the P56.8-billion programmed surplus for 2008, fiscal authorities noted that the National Government would be able to balance the budget this year.

The 14-monitored government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), however, are still expected to post a consolidated public sector deficit of P16.5 billion.

As of end-September 2007, the public sector attained a surplus of P52.7 billion or 1.1 percent of  GDP.

The government reported a surplus in 2006 for the first time since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, swinging from a deficit of P103.54 billion in 2005. The last time the public sector recorded a surplus was in 1996 at P7.5 billion.

On the government corporate side, the 14 monitored GOCCs registered an aggregate surplus of P39.9 billion, data further showed.