Thursday, October 18, 2007 Capitol seeks better interest
THREE top banks in the country will be asked to bid to give the highest possible interest for the P1.5 billion cash of the Cebu Provincial Government.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday tasked the Provincial Legal Office to identify the banks and to study her plan.
She explained that for many years they have been investing in treasury bills, but the interest for treasury bills considerably decreased from 12-14 percent to about two percent nowadays.
“We are losing in the maximization of the interest earnings for the cash we have,” said Garcia.
In a Commission on Audit report on the fiscal status of local government units, Cebu Province tops the list of 79 provinces in terms of cash, assets and equity.
Conversion costs
“We really have to brace ourselves because of the real property tax that we lose because of the conversion of three towns to new cities. Until the amendment that (Rep. Pablo John Garcia) filed for the cities to continue sharing real estate taxes to the province, we are already looking at that scenario,” she added.
Last Tuesday, Garcia submitted to the Cebu Provincial Board a proposed budget of P2.2 billion for next year.
Of the amount, only half is from the Province’s share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA). The rest of the programs are funded from local income.
The governor is targeting to asphalt 700 kilometers of provincial roads. In her first term that started in July 2004, the engineering office accomplished 400 kilometers, so she wants to finish the rest of the 300 kilometers.
“We will do this even as we continue to help barangays in the concreting of their barangay roads through a coordinative effort,” she said.
Another target that she wants to accomplish is to enroll all indigents in Cebu in a special Philhealth program. (JPM)
