PH budget deficit hits P106.4B in February Denmark’s leading wind energy firms eyeing opportunities in PH

Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Franz-Michael Mellbin said the liberalization of the renewable energy (RE) sector in the Philippines has attracted the interests of Denmark’s largest wind energy companies.

On the sidelines of a recent event at the Department of Energy (DOE), Mellbin told reporters that the Royal Danish Embassy here is “looking at a handful of companies” that are interested to explore business in the Philippines.

“[W]e have the two of the largest wind companies in the world, Vestas and Siemens Gamensa. There are also big interests from these companies to move into the market,” he said.

The envoy said the Philippines became an attractive market for Danish RE firms following the amendments to the Renewable Energy Act that now allows 100-percent ownership of projects for foreign investors.

Last week, Mellbin witnessed the signing of service contracts for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) with the DOE for three offshore wind energy projects to be located in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, in Northern Samar and in Pangasinan and La Union.

CIP is the first foreign firm that announced it will undertake renewable projects in the Philippines at full ownership.

The Danish firm said it will invest USD5 billion for the three offshore wind energy projects to be delivered within the term of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Mellbin said CIP’s investment in the Philippines is one of the offshoots of the recent official visit of Marcos to Europe.

“Definitely President Marcos has sent some very strong, positive signals about more openness to business, and this has stimulated both in Demanrk (and) also in Europe,” the envoy added.

He added that the Danish FDENMARK’S, P10

The Philippines’

Budget Deficit

slightly rose to P106.4 billion in February from the P105.8 billion shortfall in the same period in 2022 due to the slight decline in revenue collection, the Bureau of Treasury said on Monday.

This brought the budget gap as of the end of February to P60.5 billion, down 53.07 percent, the BTr said.

Revenue collection hit P211.9 billion in February, lower by 0.25 percent from a year ago due to a

3.01 percent decline in tax revenues, the agency said.

The Bureau of Internal Revenues’ collection for the month eased to P129.4 billion or 5.29 percent lower compared to the same month the previous year, data showed. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs’ raised P62.9 billion, outperforming the previous year’s outturn by 5.83 percent.

The BTr said its income improved by 51.16 percent, reaching P6.4 billion in February. Collections from other offices were also up 32.93 percent to P13.2 billion, data showed.

Expenditures, on the other hand, were relatively flat at P318.2 billion, the BTr said.