Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Philippines is 13th 'dirty money' exporter

Top 5: China, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, India

PH losing $8B yearly to tax evasion, corruption: report

MANILA -- The Philippines is among the top 15 "dirty money" exporters out of 150 developing countries from 2002 to 2011, according to a recent report of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
The country ranked 13th in terms of having the biggest illicit financial outflows, amounting to $88.87 billion in the ten-year period or an average of $8.89 billion per year.

According to GFI, the developing world lost a total of $5.9 trillion in illegal capital outflows over the decade spanning from 2002 to 2011.

In 2011 alone, illicit outflows totaled to $946.7 billion, which saw a 13.7 percent increase from 2010 with $832.4 billion, and a "dramatic" uptick from 2002 with $270.3 billion.

Dirty money is defined as the proceeds from illicit businesses, tax evasion, crime and corruption.

"It's extremely troubling to note just how fast illicit flows are growing," said GFI Chief Economist Dev Kar, the principal author of the report.

"Over the past decade, illicit outflows from developing countries increased by 10.2 percent each year in real terms—significantly outpacing GDP growth. This underscores the urgency with which policymakers should address illicit financial flows," Kar continued.

GFI Junior Economist Brian LeBlanc, a co-author of the study, added: "Poor countries hemorrhaged nearly a trillion dollars from their economies in 2011 that could have been invested in local businesses, healthcare, education, or infrastructure. This is nearly a trillion dollars that could have been used to help pull people out of poverty and save lives. Without concrete action, the drain on the developing world is only going to grow larger."

Top 25 biggest dirty money exporters
On top of the dirty money exporters list is China, which recorded a total of $1.08 trillion of illicit outflows from 2002 to 2011 or an average of $107.56 billion a year.

Here is a complete list of the 25 biggest exporters of illegal money over the decade:
1. China - $1.08 trillion ($107.56 billion average)
2. Russia - $880.96 billion ($88.10 billion average)
3. Mexico - $461.86 billion ($46.19 billion average)
4. Malaysia - $370.38 billion ($37.04 billion average)
5. India - $343.93 billion ($34.39 billion average)
6. Saudi Arabia - $266.43 billion ($26.64 billion average)
7. Brazil - $192.69 billion ($19.27 billion average)
8. Indonesia - $181.83 billion ($18.18 billion average)
*9. Iraq - $78.79 billion ($15.76 billion average)
10. Nigeria - $142.27 billion ($14.23 billion average)

11. Thailand - $140.88 billion ($14.09 billion average)
12. United Arab Emirates - $114.64 billion ($11.46 billion average)
13. South Africa - $100.73 billion ($10.07 billion average)
14. Philippines - $88.87 billion ($8.89 billion average)
15. Costa Rica - $80.65 billion ($8.06 billion average)
16. Belarus - $75.09 billion ($7.51 billion average)
17. Qatar - $62.82 billion ($6.28 billion average)
18. Poland - $49.39 billion ($4.94 billion average)
19. Serbia - $49.37 billion ($4.94 billion average)
20. Chile - $45.20 billion ($4.52 billion average)

21. Paraguay - $40.12 billion ($4.01 billion average)
22. Venezuela - $38.97 billion ($3.90 billion average)
23. Brunei - $38.37 billion ($3.84 billion average)
24. Panama - $38.09 billion ($3.81 billion average)
25. Turkey - $37.28 billion ($3.73 billion average)


The GFI noted that the recorded cumulative and average illicit outflows for Iraq (rank 9) only reflect the years 2007 to 2011 since data from 2002 to 2006 were not available. Its ranking was only based on its average illicit outflows for the five-year period.

Russia tops 2011 list, PH is top 15
PH is 15th dirty money exporter in 2011

Meanwhile, Russia topped the list of the biggest exporters of illegal capital in the year 2011, amounting to $191.14 billion.

The Philippines placed 15th with $12.19 billion worth of dirty money.

1. Russia - $191.14 billion
2. China - $151.35 billion
3. India - $84.93 billion
4. Malaysia - $54.18 billion
5. Saudi Arabia - $53.63 billion
6. Mexico - $38.09 billion
7. Brazil - $34.10 billion
8. Thailand - $29.11 billion
9. South Africa - $23.73 billion
10. Costa Rica - $21.11 billion
11. Indonesia - $19.60 billion
12. Iraq - $15.03 billion
13. Belarus - $14.09 billion
14. Nigeria - $12.89 billion
15. Philippines - $12.19 billion


In total, the GFI said crime, corruption and tax evasion have cost developing countries $946.7 billion in 2011.

"As the world economy sputters along in the wake of the global financial crisis, the illicit underworld is thriving—siphoning more and more money from developing countries each year," GFI President Raymond Baker said.

"Anonymous shell companies, tax haven secrecy, and trade-based money laundering techniques drained nearly a trillion dollars from the world's poorest in 2011, at a time when rich and poor nations alike are struggling to spur economic growth. While global momentum has been building over the past year to curtail this problem, more must be done. This study should serve as a wake-up call to world leaders: the time to act is now," Baker added.

The GFI said world leaders should implement policies to increase the transparency in the international financial system to curtail the illicit flow of money.

Noting that "significant progress has been made on automatic exchange of tax information over the past year, with the G20 economies agreeing to exchange tax information between themselves by the end of 2015," Baker said the G20 should also include developing countries "in the committee tasked with drafting the automatic exchange implementation treaty, ensuring that its terms are both beneficial to and implementable by developing countries."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/12/13/13/philippines-13th-dirty-money-exporter

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