THE Province of Cebu has gained positive equity, an indication of the provincial government’s financial strength.
According to a financial statement released by the Provincial Accounting Office on Wednesday, the equity of the Province totals close to P28 billion as of May 31.
Total assets of the province amounted to P28.7 billion, mostly in property worth P22 billion, while its liabilities were a little over P800,000.
Provincial Accounting Officer Ramon Dumayac said the figures show the provincial government is doing well financially.
“If the provincial government were a private company, this only shows that it isn’t going bankrupt,” he said.
The province has over P1 billion cash assets, according to the statement.
Most of the assets are in property, plant and equipment which include land and land improvements, runways and taxiways, electrification, power and energy structures amounting to more than P22 billion.
The province has yet to receive around P300 million from loans by local government units and some government agencies.
In December 2012, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale who took over as acting governor following the suspension of then governor Gwendolyn Garcia, said that cash flow of the Province of Cebu was tight with almost P200 million in payables and only P90.4 million cash in the general fund.
The Capitol still has to pay around P630 million to different agencies including the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), GSIS, PAG-IBIG, Philhealth and some local government units.
The remaining P180 million of the province’s liabilities fall under deferred credits.