|
| |
|
| |
|
RP
faces more economic woes, says Senator Recto THE PHILIPPINES, still barely recovering from the series of political upheavals, could plunge into another crisis -- this time economic -- should the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fail to address the ballooning foreign debt, which now stands at 3.258 trillion pesos. Senator Ralph Recto issued this warning Wednesday as he disclosed that the national government's debt grew by almost 1.3 billion pesos a day since August last year. "While we get embroiled in political bickering, while our attention is grabbed by political posturing, the debt meter, like a time bomb, ticks away," said Recto, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee. "Our debt grew by almost 53 million pesos an hour." Recto revealed that Congress would automatically appropriate 542.2 billion pesos next year to meet interest obligations of 271.5 billion pesos and principal payments of 270.7 billion pesos. He urged Malacañang, particularly finance and revenue officials, to work double time to arrest the ballooning debt, noting that the problem was compounded by the inability of revenues to meet government expenses. Due to the shortfall in revenues, the national government had no recourse but to borrow to bridge the shortfall. "The budget deficit hit 217 billion pesos last year, and is expected to breach the 200-billion-peso mark again this year," he said. Recto revealed other dire economic figures: From Aug. 2002 to Aug. 2003, government liabilities increased by 463 billion pesos. During the same period, the government accumulated 1.268 billion pesos worth of debts everyday. Of the 3.258 trillion pesos government debt as of the end of August, domestic borrowings accounted for 1.657 trillion pesos compared to 1.408 trillion pesos a year ago. The foreign debt component grew to 1.501 trillion pesos in end-August from 1.287 trillion pesos in the same month last year. "In short, we were borrowing 682 million pesos a day domestically, and 586 million pesos from abroad during that one-year period," Recto said. To service its foreign debt, the government automatically appropriates a huge chunk of the yearly budget, which should have gone to vital social services, increase in salaries of government employees, infrastructure development and poverty alleviation, among others. According to Recto, the monies involved in the Jose Pidal controversy involving First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and the Judiciary Development Fund controversy involving Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. were "miniscule compared to what has been added to our debt." To emphasize the gravity of the debt crisis, Recto claimed that the matter was far greater than the ripples caused by the failed July Oakwood mutiny last July and the recent bloody takeover of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 2 control tower.
|
