Early passage of ’23 budget to boost economy – Diokno

MANILA, Philippines— The head of the economic team of the Marcos administration is banking on the early enactment of the 2023 budget to help spur the economy next year amid risks of global economic  slowdown.

Finance chief Benjamin Diokno said there remains to be reasons for optimism next year even with a looming global recession that could impact the local economy.

One of which is the early approval of the 2023 national budget.   President Marcos signed on Dec. 16 the 2023 General Appropriations Act which aims to mitigate the socioeconomic scarring caused by the ongoing pandemic.

“This means that the programs and projects of the national government will start to run from day one of the new year,” Diokno said.

“This is especially relevant for public construction which is about one-fifth of the P5.2 trillion national budget,” he said.

The early passage of next year’s spending plan will enable agencies to start implementing their projects as early as January.

This is especially critical for the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation, since construction is best done during the first six months of the year.

“Ideally, public construction has to start in the first half of the year because of the favorable weather conditions – more sunny, less rainy days,” Diokno said.

Earlier, Marcos said the timely passage of the 2023 budget would allow the country to position itself especially as global and local banks and institutions are predicting a global recession next year.

Even the economic team has reduced its 2023 gross domestic product expectation at six to seven percent.

Even with the slowdown, the Philippines is still seen posting one of the highest growth among the ASEAN+6 economies.

Apart from the 2023 budget, Diokno is also banking on the adoption of the medium-term fiscal framework which was adopted by both chambers of Congress in the middle of this year.

“As a result, both the executive and legislative departments of government are on the same page, pursuing the same national aspirations, at least for the next three years,” Diokno said.