Thursday, June 25, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
CEBU CITY -- City Hall has set aside P391 million for the second loan amortization for the South Road Properties (SRP) this year.
This cuts the loan balance to around P5.2 billion, if computed using the current yen exchange rate.
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As of last February 20, the City Government already paid a total of P2.935 billion for its 12.292-billion yen loan it made in 1995 to construct the SRP.
It has so far earned only P373 million from the 302-hectare reclaimed properties.
The earnings include the P348-million down payment of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) for the 10.6-hectare lot it purchased last March and the P25 million advance payment of Bigfoot Entertainment for the 25-year lease of a two-hectare lot last year.
Out of the P2.935 billion paid so far for the SRP loan, only P1.7 billion went to the loan principal and interest paid to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), while P845.9 million was paid to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for interest, principal, and other charges, and P396.7 million was paid to the Department of Finance (DOF) as guarantee fees.
Interest, guarantee fees
This August, the city will have to shell out some P391 million to P400 million for the loan amortization, but only around P276.3 million will be for the loan principal to be paid to JBIC.
Assistant City Treasurer for Administration Emma Villarete said the rest of the amount will be paid to LBP for the interest of the loan and to DOF for the guarantee fees.
Of the P391 million, P216 million was already appropriated in the 2009 General Fund, while the remaining P175 million was included in the fifth supplemental budget to be approved by the City Council next week.
“Based on the initial computation, the amount due is around P391 million, but the amount could reach P400 million by August because it will depend on the dollar and yen exchange rate on the day the payment is made. If the yen continues to strengthen against the peso, then the amount will be more than P391 million,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
From the yen amount, the payment due is also converted into dollar before it is computed in peso.
According to the records of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO), the city still has a loan balance of 9,893,400,000 yen for the Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP) Loan number 1, or the original loan used to construct the SRP.
This amounts to P4,998,145,680, using Wednesday’s exchange rate of Y1=P.5052.
For MCDP Loan number 2, which represents the two-percent pass-on interest of LBP as the conduit bank for the loan with JBIC, the city still has a loan balance of P482,750,860.90, and a balance of P118,938,014.47 for MCDP Loan number 3.
Loan number 3 represents the interest for the three-year grace period for the second loan, Villarete said.
The city will be paying for MCDP Loan number 2 and 3 until 2013, while the original loan is payable until 2025. (LCR/Sun.Star Cebu)
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