The Department of Finance, or DoF, said it plans to raise at least P500 million next year through privatization of government properties.

The DoF reported that its Privatization and Management Office remitted P1.2 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury this year.

The PMO boosted its performance in one year as the remittance exceeded its target by 84.6 percent and was also higher than the level recorded from 2018 to 2021.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said PMO's initial target for 2023 was P500 million.

"It will be the same for next year. But the higher remittance was driven by the government's strong privatization push," he said.

Diokno said the government was "very conservative" in the past, but the Marcos administration will strive to further maximize opportunities from the privatization of government assets.

"Maintenance costs for the assets are expensive because the government needs to hire security guards, for example. We might as well dispose of them," he said.

Diokno said the proceeds from privatization are badly needed as the Marcos administration continues to aggressively establish and expand social projects.

"Given the administration's strong pipeline of programs and projects that it aims to implement, the funds generated through the diligent and expedited privatization efforts are crucial to achieving our goals.