Budget deficit rises to P210B in March Moderna to set up facility in PH

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna on Tuesday announced its plan to establish a shared service facility for pharmacovigilance in the Philippines that will serve the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Moderna chief commercial officer Arpa Garay and senior vice president and general manager Patrick Bergstedt made the announcement during a meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and other Philippine officials at the Blair House in Washington DC.

The Moderna officials said the shared service facility is expected to provide more employment opportunities to health professionals in the Philippines, which they said is the “perfect location” for their third shared service facility in the world.

“We are really excited to have selected the Philippines for the third one primarily because you compared to the first quarter of 2023. the widest since December last year, and was nearly double the P104.4 billion gap in February. He said the reduction of some individual income tax rates under the TRAIN law, may have affected revenues. know the capabilities exist. We have the talent that exists, and we know that the partnership will be one that can be beneficial for both Moderna and the Philippines,” Garay said.

The Philippines’ budget deficit climbed to P210.3 billion in March, which was 12 percent higher compared to the same month last year, the Bureau of Treasury said on Tuesday.

The higher fiscal gap was due to an 11.9 percent decrease in government receipts even as spending also fell 2.6 percent, Treasury said.

According to the World Health Organization, pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of the adverse effects or any other medicine/vaccine-related problem.

All medicines and vaccines undergo rigorous testing for safety and efficacy through clinical trials before they are authorized for use.

The project will be the first investment by Moderna in the Philippines and its first in Asia.

It is expected to employ about 50 staff composed of health professionals with their shortlisted office location either in Makati or at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Marcos said this development FMODERNA, P10

However, Treasury also noted that the P270.9 billion budget gap in the first three months of the year was lower by 70.9 billion or 14.5 percent

The agency also noted that revenues for the 3-month period still surpassed the P784.4 billion collected last year for the same period by P34.3 billion.

RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort meanwhile noted that the March deficit was

But he also said the reduced tax rates will help more people cope with higher prices and inflation and would also help stimulate more spending and other business/economic activities. He said this will support faster overall economic growth.