Duterte extends validity of 2019 budget until end of 2020

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the validity of the 2019 national budget until the end of 2020.

Duterte signed on December 20 Republic Act No. 11464 that extended the availability of the appropriations of the P3.757-trillion 2019 budget until 2020. A copy of the law was released only on Thursday.

JUST IN: Duterte signs law to extend validity of 2019 budget up to entire 2020. | via @xtinamen pic.twitter.com/tve8jSqgqq

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) December 26, 2019

It amended Section 65 of RA 11260 or the General Appropriations Act 2019 to now read: “All appropriations authorized in this Act shall be available for release and obligation for the purpose specified, and under the same special provisions applicable thereto, until December 31, 2020.”

ING Bank said in November that an extension on the validity of the 2019 budget would be a “double dose of fiscal stimulus” as the 2019 and 2020 budgets operating in parallel — in tandem with the central bank’s current easing cycle — can charge growth next year.

“Should these factors come together, the prospect of effectively chasing the higher 2020 growth target of 6.5-7.5% will become more tenable, with or without a global slowdown,” ING Bank senior economist Dennis Mapa said.

The government is directed to submit a printed or electronic report on the releases and obligations to the House Speaker, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance.

RELATED: Two ‘super’ national budgets to boost 2020 economic growth — ING Bank

The House of Representatives and Senate ratified the bicameral report on the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020 on December 11.

Allegations of last-minute insertions, including “pork barrel” funds, hounded the 2020 national budget. Sen. Panfilo Lacson did not sign the bicameral report as he noted that it contains lump sums and vaguely described projects.

He added that he received a flash drive with two files—the “source” file with a list of 1,253 budget items worth P83.219 billion and the “list” file with 742 projects worth P16.345 billion inserted in the report.

Reenacted budget for 2019

The Duterte government had to operate on a reenacted budget four months into the fiscal year of 2019 due to deadlock at the Congress.

It was not until April 15 that the president signed the national budget while vetoing items not included in the administration’s priorities.

The delayed enactment of the national budget was seen to delay infrastructure projects and, the Finance department said in May, "wasted the opportunity to create 260,000 to 320,000 more jobs in the first quarter."

READ: Budget delay derails gov’t poverty reduction efforts

 — Kristine Joy Patag with report from The STAR/Christina Mendez