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Average price of Dubai crude oil benchmark fell by US$0.41
to US$24.12 per barrel in September from US$24.53 per barrel
in August. The September 11 terrorist attacks in the United
States initially brought Dubai crude prices up to a high of
US$26.78 per barrel. The fall in jet fuel demand from a subsequent
slump in air travel and fears of a global recession, however,
brought down Dubai crude prices to a low of US$21.13 per barrel.
OPEC countries have maintained their production levels and
kept their price range at US$22 to US$28 per barrel for its
crude basket, which fell to US$20.99 per barrel at the end
of last month. At the futures market, November Dubai crude
oil dipped to US$24.45 per barrel in September from US$24.59
per barrel in August.
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For the second time this year, the average foreign exchange
rate has appreciated. In September the average foreign exchange
rate strengthened to P51.25/US$ in September from P51.99/US$
in August. Last February, the average foreign exchange rate
also improved to P48.29/US$ from P50.97/US$. In the first
nine months, however, the exchange rate already depreciated
by 19.3% to P50.71/US$ from P42.51/US$ in the same period
last year.
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Government revenues rose by 6.9% to P365.6 billion in January
to August from P341.8 billion in the same period last year.
Of this amount, around 70% came from collections by the Bureau
of Internal Revenue. BIR performance improved because of reforms
adopted such as the use of electronic documentary stamp tax
metering system, intensified audit of delinquent taxpayer
records, and entering into compromise agreements with taxpayers
with pending court cases. Revenues from BIR rose by 5.5% to
P258.2 billion from P244.8 billion last year. The Bureau of
Customs likewise collected P63.8 billion, 3.6% more than the
P61.5 billion it collected last year.
On the other hand, public expenditures continued to outpace
government revenues. Government spending grew by 13% to P465.1
billion from P411.6 billion. Thus, the fiscal shortfall widened
by 42.6% to P99.5 billion from P79.9 billion.
Unemployment rate dropped to 10.1% in July from 11.2% in
the same period a year ago despite the fact that around 70,000
have been laid off in the first seven months of the year.
Likewise, the underemployment rate improved to 15.9% from
18.8% a year ago. Since July last year, agriculture generated
1.1 million new jobs; industry, 271 thousand new jobs; and
services, 804 thousand new jobs. The army of employed workforce
has grown to 29.3 million out of a total labor force of 32.6
million from 27.2 million last year out of a total workforce
of 30.5 million.
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The total outstanding debt of the national government as
of end-June rose to P2.26 trillion from P2.166 trillion in
end-2000. A little over half of the outstanding amount or
P1.14 trillion are domestic debts while the remainder or P1.12
trillion are foreign obligations. The domestic debt stock
grew from P1.068 trillion since end-2000. The external debt
stock of the government declined to US$21.365 billion from
US$21.992 billion in end 2000.
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