Philippines to extend $1B loan to IMF

[baludoy]

since 2006 pa tayo bayad na ang utang sa imf.

and if we can't help contain the melt down contagion in greece, portugal, spain, italy etc. the consequences for our ofw brothers and sisters and their respective families will be dire. besides, it's just a basically a change in investment vehicle for the bsp

btw, right or wrong; this was an interesting read from boo chanco yesterday: Get used to not being poor - DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco - The Philippine Star » News » Business

[niky]

as if naman pag hindi nag contribute ang Pinas hindi matutuloy ang pag impose ng austerity measures ng IMF sa mga bansa na pinautang nila

And as if the austerity measures are not implemented, the workers will still have jobs.

Wake up, idiots. Those countries are bankrupt. Do you actually think OFW jobs are secure in such an environment, either way? Look at what happened to workers in the US after 2008... laid off here and there... and that was WITHOUT austerity measures. If those countries deficits are not curbed, then a possible total economic collapse will happen. Then, instead of a percentage of our OFWs coming back, everyone will be out of jobs and trying hard as hell to escape from countries where locals will be rioting in the streets and beating the foreigners (that's us) who took away their jobs to a bloody pulp.

well the BANGKO SENTRAL will benefit from it. that $1B will earn interest

And by extension... the Philippines in general... as long as the Italians and Greeks pay up.

Cyprus is going down the big black hole, too. It's only a matter of time.

[Harangody]

Alam ba ng mga bobong rallyista yung meaning ng IMF? Baka akala nila Impossible Mission Force?

[Boy Bastos]

Lalo pang darami ang dolyares ng Pilipinas pagdating dito ng Casino ni Packer at Ho....

Ayos! Ho Packer!

[timrev]

Ayos! Ho Packer!

diba pag dumami yun mga casino sa pinas madaming papasok na foriegn money grabe nga magdala ng pera yun mga chinese at koreans sa paglaro 100m pesos ang puhunan or million +$ ang puhunan pwede makatulong sa dollar reserve ng pinas

[glenn manikis]

Palace, Congress clash over $1 billion IMF loan

Published : Wednesday, June 27, 2012 00:00 Article Views : 561 Written by : Ritchie A. Horario, Jefferson Antiporda and Jaime Pilapil, Reporters
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THE chairman of the powerful Senate committee on ways and means and a colleague lambasted the government for allowing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to lend $1 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying the move lacked transparency, public consultation and approval from Congress.

At the same time, committee chair Sen. Ralph Recto and Sen. Gregorio Honasan 2nd asked the Aquino administration to withhold the loan pending clarification on its move to commit $1 billion of the country’s dollar reserves for the economic bailout being packaged by the IMF for troubled European economies.

Recto said that the BSP, as a creation of Congress, could not claim sole proprietary rights over the country’s dollar reserves and should seek consensus first or secure appropriation cover from Congress.

“I’m not totally opposing it but how can the government, through the BSP, lend money to IMF without authority from Congress?” the senator asked.

He said BSP’s mandate is glaringly affirmed by the P40-billion infusion approved by Congress for its recapitalization when it repudiated its old self, P20 billion of which had already been appropriated in the past national budgets.

Recto said the people must also be made to understand why the government is lending money to the IMF while it continuously borrows from international lending and multilateral institutions for budgetary support and deficit spending.

He stressed that the $1 billion loan could be better used to bankroll projects that have mass impact such as school buildings, hospitals and other key infrastructures.

“The BSP could remit the amount as dividend to the national government and use it for the country’s so many needs. Or, the BSP, like a regular bank taking care of business, could loan the amount directly to the national government under the same interest rate that it would get from the IMF,” Recto pointed out.

Investment
But Malacañang doused the lawmaker’s apprehension by saying that the loan would benefit thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Europe since they would not lose their jobs in the wake of the Eurozone crisis.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the loan would be used to help struggling companies in various parts of Europe.

“We are not wasting the money. It’s a loan. IMF would pay us back the loan. Non-monetarily, it’s going to help us because it’s going to help the economy of Europe. We have a substantial number of OCWs [overseas contract workers] and we have to protect, it’s in our interest to protect, to help those economies because we have a substantial number of Filipinos there,” he told reporters.

He said these OFWs may be thrown out of work and return home empty-handed and jobless.

“These are the possible consequences if we do not help the global economy,” he added.

BSP deputy governor Magtanggol Gunigundo also countered Recto’s claims and argued that there is a current charter that can support their recent move to extend $1 billion to the IMF.

Under the BSP Charter, Gunigundo stressed, they can give loans to international financial institutions.

He said the country also stands to gain from the loan because it is actually an investment that will earn 0.3 percent in interest.

“We didn’t give the money. It’s a loan. Our international reserves are still at $77 billion because the money is not lost. Our foreign exchange in total reserves went lower but our reserve position in the IMF went higher. We can encash it anytime because the loan to the IMF is considered liquid and is part of our $77 billion gross international reserves that were invested in US Treasury and Japanese funds,” Gunigundo said.

Surprised
For his part, Honasan said that although there was no ill motive on the part of President Benigno Aquino 3rd for such a move, he is being criticized because of the government’s failure to conduct public consultations to explain the purpose of the loan.

He said that the public, including lawmakers, was surprised by the government’s plan considering that the country needs more funding to finance its various pending development and infrastructure projects.

The senator also said that because the plan lacks transparency, the terms and conditions and the benefits that the country may get from the loan were not clearly stipulated and justified.

Recto further claimed that if the reason is to stabilize the peso, which has been appreciating lately, boost the export sector and protect the economy from the European contagion, then the government should allow the $1 billion to flow into the local economy to spur consumption and growth.

“At the end of the day, the country would not be judged on how it helped a troubled First World economic bloc, but on how it exercised fiscal maturity to achieve long-term growths and spared itself from befalling the same fate of the European economies,” Recto said.

He stressed that he was willing to listen to the “gameplan” of the BSP and know why it would risk denying the Filipino people its sovereign claim to $1 billion worth of projects and programs that could “change their lives even for a little bit.”

[robot.sonic]

Palace, Congress clash over $1 billion IMF loan

He stressed that the $1 billion loan could be better used to bankroll projects that have mass impact such as school buildings, hospitals and other key infrastructures.

additional funds na naman na pwede kurakutan.

[CoDer]

^^ Pa epal naman mga pulintiko.

Kung ganyan lang eh di isama nyo sa budget yang dollar reserve ng BSP para marami kayong kurakutin.

[vinj]

^ Just to get this off my back before hitting the sack: gaaad what idiots. pati reserves gusto kurakutin. hati daw sila ng mga tibak.

[Tj_abs]

For sure my corruption din sa bsp. "ride on" . My blessing yan ng malacanan.