Marcos OKs P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos approved yesterday the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for next year, an outlay that seeks to support the administration’s efforts to promote economic transformation and recovery from the pandemic.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Arsenio Balisacan confirmed in separate text messages to The STAR that the President had given the green light on the proposed 2024 budget during a full Cabinet meeting at Malacañang.

Economic managers presented next year’s national expenditure program during the meeting, held days before Marcos marks his first year in office.

In a recent statement, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said the proposed 2024 national budget is bigger by 9.5 percent compared to this year’s outlay.

“The proposed national budget will continue to prioritize expenditure items that promote social and economic transformation through infrastructure development, food security, digital transformation, and human capital
 development,” the DBCC said

“Acknowledging the competing demands of government programs against a backdrop of limited resources, we shall ensure that the FY (fiscal year) 2024 National Expenditure Program will only include implementation-ready agency proposals,” it added.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is the chair of the DBCC, while the Department of Finance serves as its co-chairman. The committee’s members are the principals of the NEDA and the Office of the President while the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas serves as resource person.

Under the Constitution, the executive branch must submit the proposed national budget to Congress within 30 days after the President’s State of the Nation Address.

In a memorandum issued last January, the DBM said the 2024 outlay is poised to respond to the expected continuing headwinds brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war, the external recessionary pressures and the economic scarring caused by the COVID pandemic.

“The government will continue to implement risk-managed interventions in areas of food security, transport and logistics, energy, bureaucratic efficiency and fiscal management, health, education, and social protection, to ensure the unimpeded and adequate delivery of social services, mitigate inflation pressures, accelerate economic recovery, and address economic scarring,” it said.

The DBM also said that the 2024 proposed budget would incorporate the priorities and policy directions of the Marcos administration as embodied in the eight-point socioeconomic agenda and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.

The eight-point socio-economic agenda seeks to lift the country from the pandemic’s economic setbacks; achieve economic prosperity, inclusivity and resilience; develop and protect the capabilities of individuals and families, and transform production sectors to create more quality jobs and competitive products.