Government’s pump-priming may be stalled due to budget deficit

Government’s pump-priming activity may be stalled this year as it will have to concentrate on bringing down its yawning budget deficit to a manageable level.

This was hinted at yesterday by Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II following the announcement by President Arroyo of the creation of a new economic cluster that will replace the Economic Coordinating Council (ECC).

"The new economic superbody will include Finance Secretary Alberto Romulo, myself, Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin and Economic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas," Roxas said.

He said the new economic cluster will eventually be expanded to get representatives from other government agencies the activities of which are directly related to the economy. These could include the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of Agriculture.

"The main agenda of the new economic cluster is to deal with the country’s budget deficit," Roxas explained.

The government is facing a worst case budget deficit scenario of P225 billion this year, but is planning to institute austerity measures aimed at bringing down the projected deficit to just P146 billion.

"Government’s capital expenditures will most likely be affected by the austerity measures," Roxas said, adding that there will likely "be a review of all expenditures of government which could affect plans to pump-prime the economy."

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is projecting the gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by around 3.8 percent to 4.3 percent this year while the gross national product (GNP) is seen to expand by four to 4.5 percent.