MANILA, Philippines — The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has pegged at P4.64 trillion the proposed national budget for 2021, which will be used to fund the government’s priority programs, including anti-poverty and peace-building projects.
In a press briefing yesterday, DBCC chairman and acting Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the budget ceiling for 2021 is 13.3 percent higher than the P4.1 trillion proposed appropriations for fiscal year 2020 and is equivalent to 20.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Avisado said the 2021 budget will continue to be cash-based, which limits agencies in incurring obligations and disbursing payments within the fiscal year. This ensures the faster implementation of projects and delivery of services.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last week issued a budget call, directing state agencies to start preparing for the 2021 national budget.
DBM reminded agencies to anchor their proposals to the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the Duterte administration and the Philippine Development Plan.
“The proposed 2021 national budget will continue to support anti-poverty and peace-sustaining measures through funding of recently approved legislative measures,” Avisado said.
These include the Universal Health Care program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Rice Tariffication Law, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, the provision of an annual block grant for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the prioritization of local government units with high poverty incidence.
Avisado said the DBCC also approved the creation of the Subcommittee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to review and recommend to the inter-agency committee SDG-related policies and programs.
During the briefing, both the DBM chief and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez welcomed the progress of the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Bill in the Senate and House of Representatives.
“In terms of the timetable, we’re glad that they finally approved it and ratified it because it will then also fasttrack the signing of the 2020 budget by the President within the month,” Avisado said.
“Certainly, (there’s) much improvement over last year so we’re quite pleased that we will start the year with an honest to goodness 2020 budget rather than what happened last year,” Dominguez said.
Meanwhile, DBCC yesterday bared the government’s medium-term fiscal program from 2019 to 2022.
Avisado said revenue collections are expected to reach P3.15 trillion this year, while disbursements are targeted to hit P3.76 trillion.