President Duterte has proposed a P4.506-trillion national budget for next year.
(PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Duterte approved the increase in the administration’s spending ceiling by 9.9 percent from this year’s P4.1-trillion allocation.
The higher national budget, equivalent to 21.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), "aims to sustain government efforts towards effectively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic," the department said.
DBM explained that the 2021 planned appropriations will focus on improving the country’s healthcare systems, ensuring food security, as well as increasing investments in public and digital infrastructure.
The department also said the budget, once approved by Congress, will help communities cope and prevail in these trying times.
The 2021 national budget has the theme “Reset, Rebound, and Recover: Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability.”
“The theme is consistent with the administration’s goal of saving lives and protecting communities while making different sectors of the economy stronger and more agile,” DBM said.
“Every peso of the proposed P4.506 trillion FY 2021 Budget went through numerous budget hearings and consultations with the agencies, and levels of scrutiny and approval,” it added.
Following Duterte’s approval, the DBM is now finalizing the 2021 National Expenditure Program and other budget documents for submission to Congress before the Constitutional deadline of Aug. 26.