DOF: Gov't Left With No More ‘Crown Jewel' Asset To Sell

As the government looks for money to run a nation grappling with the impacts of the prolonged pandemic, President Duterte’s chief economic manager revealed that selling state assets is no longer the best option.

- Chino S. Leyco

“We don't have any more crown jewels,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said, referring to high-value public assets such as land and shares of stock that can be easily sold to raise substantial fresh revenues. “That has been privatized by previous administrations already.”

President Duterte has been pushing for the disposal of several state-owned assets to shore up government revenues. Dominguez has identified a couple of government mining assets and thousands of land titles that can be put up for bidding.

But “these are not chunky assets anymore, like before you had big assets like banks, etc.,” Dominguez said.