MANILA, Philippines — Government agencies had wanted a little over P9 trillion in funding for their programs next year but the budget regulator only approved 69 percent of the request amid a still limited fiscal space.
During the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. economic forum on Monday, Budget Undersecretary Joselito Basilio said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) received as much as P9.2 trillion in budget proposals from various agencies.
However, only 69 percent of that or P6.352 trillion was accepted by the DBM which was eventually approved by President Marcos.
There is no breakdown available for the original proposal.
Nonetheless, the proposed P6.352 trillion is still 10.1 percent higher than this year’s P5.768 trillion budget and is equivalent to 22 percent of gross domestic product.
“That’s the difference between what was proposed and what was submitted. Some agencies have received more relative to what their GAA (General Appropriations Act) was,” Basilio said.
“And some of them, depending on their project readiness and absorptive capacity have received less in their NEP (National Expenditure Program) proposals,” he said.
For one, the Department of Health is expected to receive less than what it proposed as the DBM is starting to remove some of the COVID-related expenses that were included before such as the health emergency allowances.
“It’s really a case-to-case basis as to how we increase and decrease the budget for each agency,” Basilio said.
Further, the utilization performance of agencies was also considered especially those who are underspending.
Basilio noted that the DBM continues to require catch-up plans among government agencies to ensure that their budget is being spent.
In terms of the controversial confidential and intelligence funds, Basilio noted that it would be “something similar to what happened in this year’s GAA.”
Basilio has yet to provide the exact data on how much in confidential funds may be included in next year’s budget.
“The same agencies from the 2024 GAA will get confidential funds, usually those security and intelligence functions,” Basilio said.
“Only those agencies that should have it will have it as per the GAA 2024 principle that was applied by Congress,” he said.