Inaprubahan na ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ang P5.768 trilyong panukalang budget para sa taong 2024.
Ayon kay Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, mas mataas ito ng 9.5 percent kumpara sa kasalukuyang budget na P5.268 trilyon.
Sabi ni Pangandaman, patuloy na bibigyang prayoridad ni Pangulong Marcos ang mga programa para sa economic growth ng bansa.
Nakapaloob aniya ito sa Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 at 8-point socioeconomic agenda.
“Guided by our Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, the proposed national budget will continue to prioritize expenditures outlined in the administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and cater to the objectives of PDP 2023-2028. It shall continue to reflect our commitment to pursue economic and social transformation to address the scarring effects of the pandemic, as well as the impact of inflation, by prioritizing shovel-ready investments in infrastructure projects, investments in human capital development, and sustainable agriculture and food security, among others,” pahayag ni Pangandaman.
“It is crafted as an indispensable step towards the overarching goal to attain upper-middle-income status while bringing down the deficit to 3% of GDP and reducing the poverty rate to 9% or single digit by 2028,” sabi ni Pangandaman.
Sabi ni Pangandaman, nasa P5.90 trilyong budget ang natanggap na panukalang budget ng DBM.
“Due to the limited fiscal space, we optimized the allocation of resources by ensuring that the PAPs that will be budgeted are implementation-ready, and must be delivered and executed on time. This entails that the agency proposals considered are clear, comprehensive, and complete in terms of submitted supporting documents such as feasibility studies and annual procurement plans. We also referred to the agencies’ respective absorptive capacity, as we considered that a low budget utilization rate may reflect the agency’s limited capacity to utilize additional funds,” pahayag ni Pangandaman.
“Since this proposed National Budget is approved by the President, it already becomes the President’s Budget… Any adjustments in the proposed amounts will result in a zero-sum game where one agency’s gain will be equivalent to another agency’s loss; or one project’s gain is another project’s loss,” pahayag ni Pangandaman.