Budget approval delayed

Final approval of the 2000 budget by the House of Representatives was delayed last night due to the failure of members of the bicameral conference committee to sign their report on the outlay.

Majority Leader Eduardo Gullas (LAMP, Cebu) told reporters that the chamber's leadership rescheduled the vote on the budget for today.

"We are still waiting for some conference committee members to arrive from the provinces and sign the report. Other than that, I see no hitches that could delay approval tomorrow," he said.

He said majority of the 49 congressmen sitting in the committee should sign the report containing the final shape of the budget.

"But we want to get all of them to affix their signatures," said Gullas, who is himself a committee member.

As recommended by the House and Senate budget conferences, the proposed P651 billion outlay for this year would be cut by P22 billion to P629 billion.

Some P7 billion of the P22 billion is outright reduction, while the remaining P15 billion, including P10 billion in internal revenue allotment for local government units, was classified as unprogrammed expenditures.

The government expects to collect P566.5 billion in tax and non-tax revenues to support the 2000 outlay. The balance of P62.5 billion represents the deficit, which will be funded through local and foreign borrowings. --