Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno
MANILA, Philippines – The Duterte administration is eyeing once again an early submission of the proposed national budget on the day of the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
This year’s SONA will fall on July 23 which is also the start of the 18th Congress.
That is why the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is vigorously working on crafting the 2019 proposed national budget.
Next week, an executive review will be conducted on all budget proposals before being presented to President Duterte.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the amount of next year’s proposed national budget will almost be the same as the 2018 national budget since cash-based budgeting will be implemented. The total national budget for 2018 is P3.767 trillion.
“The plan is to submit the budget on the day of the SONA. We’re still on time with respect to our schedule,” said Diokno.
Meanwhile, DBM reported that government spending in April increased to 43 percent.
The government spent P65.6 billion last month for infrastructure projects and capital outlay projects in state universities and colleges and construction of police stations and procurement of equipment.
Though the government has been overspending in the first two quarters of the year, it remains confident that it will be able to spend the budget allocated for programs in 2018.
“We cannot exceed what the Congress has allowed us to spend. So it’s good that we are spending more than we have programmed for the first two quarters because most of the infrastructures are done during the first two quarters anyway,” said the budget secretary. – Rosalie Coz | UNTV News & Rescue
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