Ten trends in inflation, PPP, employment, cancer treatment and energy

* BusinessWorld Feb. 13, 2023.
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Last week, several important pieces of news and events came out. I am summarizing them here....

10. Last Friday, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) held a media briefing and they reported two pieces of good news. One was the launch of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) Mindanao on Jan. 26. Two is the start of operation of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Program (MVIP) this coming March. This is a long-delayed project by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) — the original target was end-2020, which became 2021, then became 2022. With President Marcos Jr. at the WESM Mindanao launch and announcing the March 2023 operation of MVIP, the NGCP will have no more excuses to keep delaying completion of the project.

The MVIP is important because Mindanao often has power surpluses — it has many new coal power plants — while Visayas and Luzon have occasional power deficits. In Mindanao, coal is 53% of installed capacity but contributes 62.5% of actual power generation.

The trends show bad numbers in inflation but good numbers in employment, energy, PPP, and foreign investments. In health, the continuing distortion in public spending in favor of COVID vaccination spending should stop and resources be diverted to controlling cancer and other non-communicable diseases.

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