Malacañang eyes P2.6-trillion 2015 budget

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino will most likely submit his proposed national budget for 2015 to Congress after his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad has told The STAR that the administration intends to keep the tradition it has started of submitting the budget proposal to the House of Representatives and the Senate a day after the SONA.

This gives lawmakers enough time to scrutinize the proposal and approve it before yearend, he said.

The President presents his proposed spending program to Congress through his budget secretary.

Based on Abad’s memoranda to state agencies, Malacañang is eyeing a P2.606-trillion national budget for next year. The issuances contain “indicative budget ceilings.”

In his memoranda, Abad discussed the general thrusts of the planned 2015 outlay.

Through the 2015 budget program, he said the government would again try to attain inclusive growth through such programs as cash transfers to the poor, K to 12 basic education, universal healthcare and housing for squatters.

The budget would also be designed to help the government steer the economy to growth through infrastructure development, pursue good governance and anti-corruption programs and minimize disaster risks to prevent loss of life, property and livelihood, he said.

Despite last year’s succession of calamities, he said the government remains optimistic that it would attain its economic targets, on which the 2015 budget proposal is broadly based.

Next year’s planned outlay is P341 billion more than this year’s P2.265-trillion spending level.

The administration hopes to fund it with revenues projected to reach P2.337 trillion, leaving a deficit of P285.3 billion, which would be funded through borrowings.

It expects the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to improve their collection efficiency.

Next year’s P2.337-trillion revenue target is P319 billion more than this year’s projected collections of P2.018 trillion.

The proposed budget assumes a gross national product growth of seven to eight percent, a gross domestic product expansion of 7.5 to 8.5 percent, an inflation rate of two to four percent, a peso-dollar exchange rate of P41-P44 to a dollar, and crude price of $90-$110 per barrel.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has assured Malacañang that the House would act expeditiously on the budget proposal it would present to lawmakers.

He said the administration should be credited for presenting the budget early enough to allow for its approval before yearend and avoid the reenactment of the previous year’s outlay.

The President, like Congress, does not want a reenacted budget, which serves as a huge Palace pork barrel, he said.