Privatization office beats 2023 remittance target by 84.6%

MANILA, Philippines  -The government’s privatization office exceeded its target amount of remittance to the National Treasury in 2023, the Department of Finance said, as the Marcos administration ramps up the sale of idle state assets to generate more revenues and help bridge a large budget deficit.

As of Dec. 12, 2023, the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) remitted P1.21 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury from the sale of non-performing state assets along with cash dividends and other forms of revenue, data from the DOF showed.

The DOF said the amount surpassed the PMO’s remittance target by 84.6 percent and the actual remittances from 2018 to 2021 in just one year.

“Privatization plays a key role in funding the needs of the national government spending programs,” the DOF said in a statement.

READ:Aggressive asset sales to help fund budget

For this year, the government targeted to privatize P2 billion worth of assets. In 2022, privatization proceeds hit P501 million.

Last June, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government would place at least 143 properties worth P2.5 billion on the auction block in the second half to generate funds for the Marcos administration, which is projected to post of budget deficit of P1.5 trillion this year.

Diokno said the government planned to sell 36 properties amounting to P397.73 million in the third quarter and 57 assets with a combined value of P431.4 million in the last three months of the year.

READ: Gov’t eyeing to bundle small idle properties to attract buyers

For next year, the PMO had said it would prioritize disposing assets that are too costly to maintain, as well as those without informal settlers and pending legal cases.

“Given the administration’s strong pipeline of programs and projects that it aims to implement, the funds generated through the diligent and expedited privatization efforts are crucial to achieving our goals,” the DOF said.