Peza halves 2020 investment registration target

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority tempers its expectations and sets only about P60 billion in investment registration goal for the year as the pandemic adversely affects investor sentiment.

This is half of what the agency got in 2019.

Unless the Peza defies the odds, it would see its investment pledges registration drop for the third year in a row, as the uncertainty over the future of the ecozone locators’ tax breaks is further complicated by the impact of the health crisis.

When asked for a realistic target for 2020, Peza Director General Charito Plaza said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel last week that they were expecting only half of year-ago figures.

She did not cite specific figure. Last year, it registered P117.5 billion in pledges, putting this year’s target to P58.75 billion.

This is a stark contrast from the optimistic outlook the agency had back in January. At that time, Plaza said the agency hoped to bounce back with a 5-to 10-percent growth. INQ