The remaining P210 billion worth of privatization proceeds yet to be collected from the divestment of the National Power Corporation (NPC) assets will no longer be enough to settle the liabilities of state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) which still hovers at P355.9 billion as of June this year.
Data from PSALM showed that a total of P706.475 billion have already been remitted out of the P916.495 billion worth of proceeds fetched from the sale of NPC power plants and decommissioned facilities, the privatization of power supply contracts, and the concession deal for the transmission asset
The remaining collection that PSALM can still expect then would be P141.454 billion from the Independent Power Producer Administrators (IPPAs) of the privatized power supply deals as well as the balance of P68.566 billion concession fees for the transmission asset.
According to PSALM, the aggregate collections of more than P706 billion “were exclusively utilized for the liquidation of financial obligations amounting to P706.06 billion.”
Despite the flow of additional privatization proceeds in this year’s first semester, it had been manifest that the state-run company’s liabilities had remained steady at P355 billion if compared to end-December last year.
Based on PSALM records, it has been apparent that it immensely lagged on its payment of the NPC-transferred debts from P327.6 billion in 2001 after the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the restructuring of the power industry, that was just pared by P124 billion to P272 billion despite the 20 years that already passed.
The PSALM liability component that had been significantly reduced is its contingent financial obligations on the IPP contracts that went down to P83 billion as of June this year from P535.4 billion in 2001.
PSALM liabilities are still projected to swell given the depreciating value of the Philippine peso, which will impact adversely on its foreign currency-denominated loans.
It was shown that 56 percent of the government-owned firm’s financial obligations were denominated in US dollars at equivalent P197.504 billion; Japanese yen loans amounted to P14.909 billion or 4.0 percent; while the peso-denominated liabilities accounted for 40 percent at P143.470 billion.
There are still remaining NPC assets that can be scheduled for sale under the Marcos administration. The first one is the 165-megawatt Casecnan hydropower plant scheduled for bidding by February next year.