Government spending above board, Palace says after Lacson remark on P12-T debt
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang maintained that there are no irregularities in state spending after presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson criticized the national government's growing outstanding debt .
In a radio interview last Wednesday, Lacson said passing on trillions of pesos in debt to the next generation is "shameful." He said the national government's outstanding debt has reached P12.09 trillion, higher than the P5.9 trillion recorded after the term of former President Benigno Aquino III. The outstanding debt may even reach P13.4 trillion before June 30, the last day of the Duterte administration, the senator added.
Acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar dismissed Lacson's remark on the national government's outstanding debt as "part of election campaign rhetoric."
"Be that as it may, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has already addressed this issue saying that there is a need for government borrowing to finance the Administration’s programs and projects," Andanar said in a statement issued yesterday.
"What is important, the chief executive underscored, is there are no irregularities in government spending," he added.
Late last month, the treasury bureau reported that the national government’s total outstanding debt hit P12.09-trillion as of the end of February.
According to the bureau, P63.83 billion, or 0.5% of the total debt portfolio, was added due to currency fluctuations and net financing from both local and external sources. Of the total debt stock, 30.4 percent was sourced externally while 69.6 percent were domestic borrowings.
Last week, Duterte defended the government's decision to borrow money, saying tax revenues are not enough to fund state expenditures.
"There is no government in this world without debt.. You borrow money if the taxes – if it’s not enough for our needs," the president said during a campaign rally in Cebu on March 31.
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