Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) Chairman Margarito B. Teves announced that the PDIC management has recommended remittance of P350 million in advance dividends to the national treasury after its successful public offering of Philippine National Bank (PNB) shares. This is in response to the memorandum of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to all government-owned and controlled corporations and government financial institutions to advance their dividend payments to the national treasury this year to support the government's fiscal consolidation program. PDIC had previously remitted to the national treasury the amount of P200 million representing dividends for 2006.

The recently concluded sale involved PDIC's remaining nine percent (9%) stake and the NG's three percent (3%) stake in PNB amounting to P3.2 billion and P1.0 billion, respectively. Proceeds from the sale contributed positively to the government's fiscal position by way of direct gains from the sale of NG shares as well as taxes and dividends from the sale of PDIC's shares. It also signaled government's final exit from the bank, reinforcing government's privatization efforts.

The public offering came after the successful public bidding in 2005 of 32.45% of the PDIC and the NG's combined holdings in PNB, which resulted in the single biggest privatization effort since 1997. The recent sale of the government's remaining shares through a public offering concluded PNB's full privatization. Finance Secretary Teves said that he was very pleased with the successful and timely conclusion of the transaction.