PPP Center says oil crisis not yet affecting deal flow

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter

THE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center said the war in the Middle East has had no impact so far on interest in PPP contracts, though it is less certain whether sentiment will hold the longer the fighting goes on.

“In terms of the appetite for future PPPs, I do not think in the near future there will be an impact, considering that at the moment we have so much in the pipeline and we have yet to process those, get them approved, and deliver them,” PPP Center Executive Director Rizza Blanco-Latorre told BusinessWorld.

“If (the war is) prolonged, yeah, maybe we will see (an impact), but at least in the near future, there is nothing that we anticipate to be (affecting) the number of PPP projects coming to the center,” she added.

As of March 27, the PPP Center had 250 projects in the pipeline, valued at P3.26 trillion.

The PPP Center said 166 projects worth P3.12 trillion will be implemented by the National Government, while 84 projects worth P137 billion will be overseen by local government units (LGUs).

195 projects are solicited or were initiated by the government, while the remaining 55 projects are unsolicited.

Railways accounted for P1.97 trillion of the project value, followed by property development (P364.99 billion) and land transport (P271.22 billion).

Projects located in the National Capital Region amounted to P2.17 trillion, followed by Central Luzon (P1.26 trillion) and the Ilocos Region (P827.76 billion).

She said the main concern at the moment is to evaluate the impact of the war on operational projects.

“For example, toll roads are giving discounts, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 is giving discounts; many of those are PPPs, so we are checking how that would impact the existing contracts, if any,” she added.

She said the ideal scenario would be to complete ongoing projects as quickly as possible.

“The longer you delay (projects under implementation), the more the uncertainties grow and anxieties increase, so you don’t know how this will all end up. Faster is better, and I think that is also (everyone else’s thinking), to deliver the projects as fast as possible,” she said.

As of March 27, the PPP Center classified 287 projects worth P3.57 trillion as being in the implementation stage.