MANILA - A government auction of a 103-hectare commercial estate in the heart of the Philippine capital was declared a failure after bidders skipped the sale, officials said on Thursday.

"We are constrained to announce that there is a failure of bidding on the FTI (Food Terminals Inc.) property," said Felipe Gella at the government's privatization office.

FTI is 120-hectare agro-industrial estate in Taguig that is host to about 300 firms engaged in various lines of production and services. Only 103 hectares is up for sale since state-run National Food Authority already owns portions of the property.

Four firms earlier expressed interest to bid for the FTI complex, which the government has been trying to sell for years. The indicative price for the property was set at P12.956 billion ($279 million).

FTI is among the assets the government is trying to privatize within the year to generate funds that could help cover its ballooning budget deficit estimated to hit a record P250 billion.

Other items scheduled to be bid out this year are the government's 40% stake in PNOC-Exploration Corp., and a 50-year lease for government property in Fujimi, Japan. With a report from Reuters