President's budget for 2024 anchors on 8-point socioeconomic agenda
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said
that the proposed 2024 National Budget shall continue to prioritize
expenditures that will sustain economic growth bearing in mind inclusivity and
sustainability, consistent with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP)
2023-2028, and the administration’s 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,” she said.
The proposed National Budget for FY 2024 is set at P5.768 trillion. It is
equivalent to 21.8 percent of GDP and is 9.5 percent higher than this year's
P5.268 trillion budget.
“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,” Sec. Pangandaman
said.
The budget secretary disclosed that the DBM received a total of P5.90 trillion
budget proposals for FY 2024, which were thoroughly evaluated considering
several factors such as the agencies’ budget utilization rates in the past
years, and the alignment of their programs, activities and projects (PAPs) with
the priorities outlined in the budget priorities framework.
“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,” Pangandaman said.
The budget chief likewise reiterated that all concerned agencies should exert
all efforts to support, uphold, and defend the President’s Budget, and the
budget levels during congressional deliberations.
“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,” Pangandaman
said.
However, the budget secretary pointed out to agencies that the approval of the
President’s Budget does not always imply the end of their initiative, as there
will always be future yearly budgets in which they may be included.
“This is not the end of it… Hopefully in the next few years, we will be more
ready in presenting our implementation-ready proposals and preparing all the
necessary groundwork and requirements,” she said.
“Amidst the challenges the country has faced, we believe that by being
consistent in our priorities and spending within our means on the right
priorities with measurable results, we can build a truly inclusive and
sustainable economy that would benefit not only the Filipinos of today, but the
generations to come,” Pangandaman said.
The budget secretary said that the proposed FY 2024 National Budget will be
submitted to Congress a few weeks after the second State of the Nation Address
of President Bongbong Marcos, which is scheduled on July 24. Under the
Constitution, the NEP must be submitted to Congress within 30 days after the
SONA.
The NEP is the National Government’s spending plan for the next fiscal
year. Once approved by Congress, it will be known as the General
Appropriations Bill, and once passed into law, the bill will be known as the
General Appropriations Act. (DBM/PIA Caraga)
