DBM ready to defend 2025 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration is prepared to justify before lawmakers its proposed P6.352-trillion national outlay for 2025, the budget department said yesterday.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman gave assurance that the budget, which is 10.1 percent higher than this year’s P5.758-trillion outlay, is intended to address the needs of the nation.

“I would like to thank the entire Cabinet for helping us prepare this fiscal year National Expenditure Program for next year and we are ready to defend our budget in Congress – both in House of Representatives and the Senate – in the coming weeks,” Pangandaman said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“The President said we crafted it meticulously and we were sleepless when we were doing it so that our budget will be responsive to the needs of our people,” she added.

The 2025 budget is equivalent to 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and is anchored on the theme “Agenda for prosperity: Fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the Filipino people.” It was submitted to Congress on July 29.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) also said the reforms implemented by various agencies resulted in a higher budget utilization in the first six months.

DBM principal economist Undersecretary Joselito Basilio said that as of end-June, spending is about 14 percent higher this year compared to last year.

“The releases have been around P24.6 billion higher than programmed. So, that means there are accelerated programs and projects that started earlier this year,” he said.

Basilio cited the faster implementation of the public works department’s Road Network Infrastructure Program as well as the agency’s early procurement activities. He also mentioned the improvements in the implementation of the social welfare department’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the bigger spending for the defense department’s modernization program and the Commission on Elections’ preparations for next year’s polls.

Budget officials are also optimistic that the government would be able to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio because of better economic performance and revenue collection.

“Given the interest rate conditions, we expect, since the inflation is going down...we’ll be more steady and lower from their levels last year or at the beginning of the year,” Basilio said.

Pangandaman said the Philippines’ debt-to-GDP ratio is going down.

“We are now at 60.2 percent (debt as a share of the GDP) and then next year, 60.1 percent. So the ideal for our fiscal consolidation is to bring it down to 59 percent of debt-to-GDP ratio,” she added.

Pangandaman also said the government would continue funding aid programs to address the impact of higher prices on the poor.

A total of P253.3 billion has been allocated for cash assistance programs, the budget chief added.

Of the amount, P205.5 billion has been allocated for the programs of the social welfare department – 4Ps (P114.1 billion), social pension (P49.8 billion), protective services (P35.1 billion), sustainable livelihood program (P4.4 billion) and the food stamp program (P1.8 billion).

Pangandaman also disclosed that the first of the four-tranche pay increases for state workers would begin this year and would be distributed retroactively starting January.

The upward salary adjustments will be implemented until 2027.