[ Malaya.com.ph ] December 20, 2011
THE Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig City is being re-appraised to make sure the government gets the best price from the sale of the 103-hectare lot, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
"The FTI sale has been moved to next year. A re-appraisal of the property is being conducted," said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
The Lank Bank of the Philippines will conduct the re-appraisal of the property.
Purisima said the last time the FTI property was re-appraised was in 2010.
"The DOF will push through with a negotiated bid, which will then be subjected to a Swiss challenge," Purisima said.
The floor price for the property has been set at P13 billion by the Aquino administration when it renewed plans to privatize the area.
The DOF had earlier set the privatization of FTI for this year.
Finance Undersecretary John Philip Sevilla said there have been other offers for the property, and more time is needed to study them.
Sevilla said there is no immediate need for the privatization proceeds, considering the country’s fiscal situation, where the deficit is significantly lower than programmed.
With the sale of the FTI property deferred to next year, the P6-billion programmed revenues from the privatization of state assets this year will not be met, Sevilla said.
Big developers such as Filinvest Land Inc., SM Group, Megaworld Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., and Ayala Land Inc. have signified their intention to bid for the FTI lot.
Last year, the government raised P900 million from asset sales, lower than the P2 billion program in 2010.
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