MANILA, Philippines - The successful
privatization of Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) to property giant Ayala Land Inc. for
P24.33 billion gives the government more fiscal space, Finance Secretary Cesar
Purisima said yesterday.
With the bigger fiscal space, the
government can accelerate spending if it needs to, he said.
At the same time, a bigger fiscal
space may also mean that the yearend budget deficit may fall below the
programmed ceiling of P279 billion or roughly 2.6 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP).
In January to June, the government’s
budget gap stood at P34.482 billion. This is still way below the programmed
ceiling of P109.341 billion for the period by roughly P79 billion.
In June alone, the deficit hit P11.696
billion, wider than the P7.691 billion posted a year ago.
But more than the improvement in the
government’s fiscal position, Purisima said the successful sale of the FTI
property bodes well for the Aquino administration’s efforts to attract private
sector investment.
“More importantly, it should spur more
private sector investments and the continue development of Taguig,” he said.
The government sold 74 hectares of the
103-hectare FTI property in a public bidding on Tuesday.
In a statement, Ayala Land said it
would transform the property into another business district.
“Given its proximity to C5, South
Luzon Expressway and the Skyway, Ayala Land will transform this property into
another business district, where we will bring all our product lines into the
development,” Ayala Land said.
It said the property was acquired at a
significant discount compared to the land values in Makati and Bonifacio Global
City.
“We look forward to leading this urban
renewal program which will spur economic activity for the City of Taguig and
the rest of the country,” Ayala Land said.
Ayala Land beat two other giant
property developers Robinson’s Land Inc. of the Gokongwei group, which offered
P14.66 billion and Andrew Tan’s Empire East, with a bid of P11.2 billion.
Ayala will pay P19.465 billion as
upfront payment within 60 business days, with the balance to be settled within
one year.
The FTI agro-industrial complex is one
the largest industrial complexes in Metro Manila and is currently home to more
than 300 companies.
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