Market watchers were confused by the government?s move in recent weeks to adjust economic targets once more, supposedly in response to the global crisis. But the story behind this latest shift is funnier than most.
According to our source, economic managers (we mean the heads of the budget and management, finance, and trade and industry departments and of the National Economic and Development Authority) met a few weeks ago to discuss the crisis and ?play around with scenarios? and come up with an ?emerging? figure for the gross domestic product, inflation, budget deficit and others.
However, these numbers were soon leaked to the press and, in no time, became the new fait accompli economic targets. The only problem was that these figures were computed ?on the back of an envelope? (figuratively speaking) without the benefit of thorough vetting by their staffers.
When the number crunchers got to work, they discovered that their bosses used the wrong assumptions for their seat-of-the-pants computations, resulting in incorrect numbers.
Thus, the government had to issue a statement last week meant to ?align the country?s growth targets with recent developments in the global economy,? when it was, in fact, meant to cover for their bosses? booboo. Daxim L. Lucas
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Double Dutch treat
What do the IMF and the World Bank have in common in the Philippines?
They have sent towering Dutch economists with rhyming surnames as country representatives. Incoming IMF representative Dennis Botman, just like World Bank?s Bert Hofman, stands over six feet tall (almost guaranteeing they?ll see ?eye to eye? on important issues).
Both are married to Asians (Botman?s wife is Korean while Hofman?s is Indonesian).
The 36-year-old Botman, who was introduced to the media last week, is not a total stranger, having been part of several IMF missions to the Philippines and other Asian countries over the past few years.
His name also sounds like that of former NBA star Dennis Rodman. But despite standing six feet and six inches, he does not play basketball.
His predecessor, Harvard-educated Reza Baqir, will return to Washington DC early next year. Relishing his last Christmas here, Baqir says it?s the festive season that he?ll miss most in this country. Doris C. Dumlao and Michelle V. Remo
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?Do as I say, not as I feel?
Being an official of the Department of Finance doesn?t mean one has to wholeheartedly embrace the tax code, which dictates that all kinds of income should be taxed.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is preparing a regulation that will impose an income tax on interest earned on meter deposits of Manila Electric Co., which the power distributor is set to return to its customers.
While the finance department has yet to clear the proposed regulation, a ranking official expressed hope the proposed regulation would be thumbed down. ?Ayoko talaga yang regulation na ?yan, eh.? [I really don?t like that regulation], the official said.
On the record, however, he stressed it was the finance department?s mandate to shore up tax collections, and that meant the interest portion of the meter deposits should be taxed by the BIR. Apparently, it?s tough to have to say one thing while wishing for another. Michelle V. Remo
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Kapuso Airline, Part 2
The spokesperson of GMA Network Inc. wrote to Biz Buzz to say that none of the network?s key stockholders was interested in buying Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR), as earlier suggested in this column.
We wonder whether the ?Kapuso? network, a publicly held company, is privy to the personal investment plans of each and every one of its shareholders. Although we suggested that SEAIR might soon be the official Kapuso carrier given possible synergies, GMA Network itself is not involved in the transaction.
But we were not kidding when we said there was a major Kapuso stockholder in talks to buy SEAIR. Owning an airline is his childhood dream. Doris C. Dumlao
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Shot in the foot
Asian Institute of Management (AIM) president Francis Estrada called the Philippine Daily Inquirer after reading the Biz Buzz piece ?Quo vadis, AIM?? on Oct. 22, which was based on a letter survey to AIM alumni dated Oct. 18.
Estrada said a ?serious error? was committed by the school?s own staff and requested that it be corrected.
?I wish to inform you that, regrettably, the ?letter to the alumni? contained a few errors.?
He then explained that the AIM campus on Paseo de Roxas in the Makati business district was not valued at P3 billion and that Ayala did not offer AIM P3 billion for the campus. He also said that putting up a campus on Malugay Street in Makati City (the former Zuellig property) was no longer an option for AIM.
?There may be future options in the Makati Central Business District,? he said, but added that ?no decision has been made by the Board of Trustees on the new campus issue.?
?AIM is currently consulting its stakeholders so as to take their thoughts and concerns into consideration in any decision to be made,? Estrada said. ?I apologize for the inadvertent errors.?
One can only guess how such an erroneous letter from the country?s top management school could have been sent out. And if Biz Buzz did not come out with it, would anyone have noticed the error? Margie Quimpo-Espino
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Helping a ?brutha?
Like most people of color, Bayan Telecommunications chief consultant Babatunde Fafunwa (yes, that?s his name) cheered the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.
Fafunwa can boast of having a lot more in common with the president-elect than most folks. Like Obama, Fafunwa?s father is African, specifically Nigerian, and his mother is a white American. Obama?s mother is from Kansas, Fafunwa?s hails from Vermont.
Their major difference, he said, is that he considers himself more of a Nigerian while Obama identifies more with his American roots.
But Fafunwa did exercise his right to vote, thanks to his dual citizenship, and boasted that he helped Obama win the battleground state of Virginia by casting his vote at the US embassy in Manila. Tina Arceo Dumlao
