Economic managers to review growth targets

THE country’s economic managers will meet Tuesday to determine if the short-term economic and fiscal goals remain sound amid external factors such as cheaper oil.

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the interagency, Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) ‘‘will meet to review recent economic performance and targets.’’

But Balisacan, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority, declined to disclose the specific issues to be tackled during the meeting, which is expected to be attended by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, who heads the Aquino administration’s economic cluster, as well as Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

Last February, Abad said the DBCC would possibly review the revenue targets of the government’s top tax-collection agencies as lower global oil prices as well as higher tax-exemption caps could likely drag down this year’s take.

For one, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had conceded as early as late last year that its 2015 goal of P456.4 billion in collections of duties and taxes was ‘‘impractical and unrealistic’’ as about P40 billion would be lost to cheaper oil.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), meanwhile, had slashed its tax-collection target for this year–originally at P1.721 trillion–twice already.

Last January, the BIR cut this year’s goal to P1.7 trillion, citing the P16.9 billion in foregone revenues from the expanded exemption on workers’ de minimis benefits gained from collective bargaining agreement as well as productivity bonuses, as ordered by the Department of Labor and Employment last year.

In February, the BIR again lowered its collections target to P1.67 trillion as the law signed by President Aquino that brought up to P82,000 from P30,000 previously the tax-exemption ceiling on 13th-month pay and other bonuses was seen to result in revenue leaks of up to P30 billion.

These two revenue-collection agencies under the Department of Finance had been tasked by the DBCC to collect a combined P2.18 trillion in 2015.

During the previous DBCC meeting held in January, the BOC and the BIR’s collection goals were kept as the government had wanted adjustments on the expenditure side of the budget through fast-tracked spending rather than touching the revenue targets.

Also during last January’s meeting, economic managers decided to keep the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for this year at 7-8 percent while the 2016 goal was brought down to a similar 7-8 percent expansion from the previous projection of 7.5-8.5 percent. Ben O. de Vera