PSALM’s financial obligations hit ₧342.6B at end-June

BY LENIE LECTURA – JULY 5, 2022
from Business Mirror

THE financial obligations of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) at end-June this year stood at P342.6 billion (around $6.185 billion at current exchange rates).

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the state firm said the amount was at P538 billion (about $9.71 billion) before former President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in June 2016. PSALM’s financial obligation was reduced by P195.4 billion by the end of the Duterte administration.

Psalm President Irene Joy Besido-Garcia said all their payables that matured during the Duterte administration have been settled. It was also able to pay interest and borrowing costs amounting to P108.6 billion during the same period.

As of June 30 this year, Psalm’s debts reached P264.4 billion as against P306.8 billion in June 2016. Lease obligations from independent power producers (IPPs) were slashed from P231.2 billion in June 2016 to only P78.2 billion as of June 30 this year.

Last year, Psalm’s revenues from its service and business income, shares, donations, grants and gains amounted to P79.5 billion, 27-percent higher from the P62.4 billion revenues it recorded at the end of 2020.

Psalm also achieved 94-percent collection efficiency for its power sales. Garcia said Psalm encountered “challenges in collecting from Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative and Maguindanao Electric Cooperative.”

For its operating expenses, Psalm recorded a 2-percent increase from P70.1 billion in 2020 to P71.2 billion in 2021. Overhead expenses, accounted for less than five percent of Psalm’s total income as it was able to implement substantial cost-cutting measures while increasing revenues through successful privatization activities and aggressive collections of receivables.

Psalm is the entity created by Republic Act 9136, which restructured the power industry by privatizing the assets of the National Power Corp.