Manila Water cuts rates; Maynilad to increase theirs
Customers of the Razon-led Manila Water Co. Inc. will pay less for their water bills effective July 1, while West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. will increase its rates because of foreign currency adjustments.
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) on Friday announced the respective foreign currency differential adjustment (FCDA) of Manila Water and Maynilad for the third quarter.
The FCDA of Manila Water will decrease to 12 centavos per cubic meter (cu. m.) in the July to September period, while that of Maynilad will slightly increase to P0.005 per cu. m., translating to higher water bills.
“It’s because the Philippine peso weakened against the Japanese yen and the euro but strengthened against the US dollar,” MWSS-RO chief regulator Patrick Lester Ty said in a message.
With this adjustment, Manila Water customers with a monthly consumption of 10 cu. m. or less will see a 55-centavo drop in their water bills. Those consuming 20 cu. m. and 30 cu. m. a month will pay P1.20 and P2.45 less, respectively.
In the case of Maynilad, customers with a monthly consumption of 10 cu. m. or less will see a meager increase of P0.01. Those consuming 20 cu. m. would see an increment of P0.05 in their bill, while customers with 30 cu. m. consumption would pay P0.11 more.
Low-income lifeline consumers, referring to those consuming 10 cu. m. and below, will be exempt from the FCDA adjustment.
Manila Water and Maynilad settle their respective foreign currency-denominated loans to finance the expansion and improvement of water and wastewater services, according to the MWSS.
In turn, they are allowed to recover losses or return gains resulting from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates through the FCDA, a tariff mechanism reviewed quarterly.
“It is a corrective mechanism formulated by the MWSS-RO to avoid under-recovery or over-recovery caused by forex movements. Maynilad and Manila Water have different foreign currency loan mix,” the regulatory agency said.
Ty said Manila Water’s loan mix is 59 percent denominated in euro and 41 percent in US dollar.
Maynilad’s foreign loan composition is 58 percent denominated in Japanese yen and 42 percent in US dollar.
