DoF bares mega ‘idle’ assets sale
‘The assets we are privatizing are no longer productive and continue to drain the national government’s resources through management, security, and maintenance costs’
Blue fairy search Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and Netherlands’ ING Bank officials discussed ways to expand the use of artificial intelligence in the Philippines. Plotting the AI path are (from left) ING chairman of the Supervisory Board Karl Guha, Recto, and ING chief executive officer Steven van Rijswijk talked about opportunities from artificial intelligence on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
Photograph courtesy of DoF
After a mammoth borrowing program of $3.5 billion from the overseas market, the Department of Finance (DoF) plans a massive disposal of state properties to plug the ever-growing budget shortfall.
The agency said the government aims to monetize 28,665 non-performing assets through the Privatization Management Office (PMO).
“The assets we are privatizing are no longer productive and continue to drain the national government’s resources through management, security, and maintenance costs,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said.
In a statement on Sunday, the DoF said officials are studying non-performing assets of the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System which can be auctioned to support pensions funds.
Among those lined up for sale are the Star City lot in Pasay, Mile Long Building of the National Economic and Development Authority in Makati City, United Chemicals Inc. lot, Elorde Sports and Tourism Development Corp. and Condominium Units in Atrium, Makati City.
“These idle assets will not only generate revenues for the government but will also increase the value of these assets that have been lying around in Metro Manila,” Finance Undersecretary Domini Velasquez said.
Star City has an appraised value of P15 billion.
The DoF reported gaining a P4.44 billion income from sales and lease of government assets and dividends last year.
This was a 129 percent growth compared to the 2023 level, increasing the government’s total non-tax revenues by 45.6 percent to P555.3 billion.
Scouring for funds
“In addition to tax collections, non-tax revenue sources help us marshal additional resources, enabling the government to deliver more and better services in critical areas such as healthcare, education, food security, social protection and national security,” Recto explained.
Earlier, Recto indicated that the government, through a DoF directive, is sweeping government-owned and controlled corporations of idle funds.
Last September, Velasquez said officials have been studying the privatization of government shares in Semirara Mining Corp. to further raise non-tax revenues.
She said the government owns around 145 million shares in Semirara.
“We needed to scout for new funding sources without inflicting new taxes,” Velasquez said.
Consunji-owned Semirara supplies coal to power plants and other industrial firms in the country.