August 6, 2024 — During the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) National Budget briefing to the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations on Monday (August 5), the Marcos Administration’s economic team highlighted several markers of socioeconomic progress and identified key priority areas to be financed under the FY 2025 National Expenditure Program.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan provided an overview of the country’s recent economic performance and focused on the country’s gains in national income, employment, and poverty indicators. He noted that real GDP per capita in the first quarter of 2024 grew by 4.8 percent and is already higher than its pre-pandemic level by over 10 percent. Encouragingly, the latest labor force survey figures from May 2024 show a steady decline in the underemployment rate—an indicator of job quality—as it reached 9.9 percent, the lowest figure recorded since 2005.
Citing the 2023 Official Poverty Statistics Report released last month, Balisacan also highlighted that poverty incidence has declined to 15.5 percent from 18.1 percent between 2023 and 2021, translating to 2.45 million fewer Filipinos living in poverty and 1.71 million fewer food-poor individuals.
Meanwhile, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto highlighted the country’s progress toward achieving the fiscal program for the year, noting that the country has already achieved half of its targets for total revenue collection, with total revenues growing by 15.6 percent to PHP2.15 trillion as of mid-year (January to June 2024). He further assured the members of the Committee on Appropriations of the DOF’s commitment to sound and prudent fiscal management with the debt-to-GDP ratio projected to ease to 60.4 percent in 2025.
On the other hand, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona drew attention to the country’s easing inflation outlook, which allows the Central Bank to maintain its current monetary policy settings for the time being. Nevertheless, the BSP Governor still emphasized the need to effectively implement non-monetary measures on the supply side to reduce and manage inflation. These include measures related to increasing agricultural productivity, as well as tariff modification and importation to improve food supply.
Remarking on such progress, the economic managers stressed the need to sustain the government’s ongoing initiatives and priorities that are in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 while integrating lessons learned from previous years into the design and implementation of its programs and projects for 2025.
“To boost growth next year, the Marcos Administration will continue to implement the strategies we have set in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, guided by the lessons we have identified in the Philippine Development Report 2023,” said Balisacan.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman then detailed the proposed 2025 national budget of PHP6.352 trillion, of which more than half (or 62.6 percent) will be allocated for both social and economic services. Of this total budget, PHP977.6 billion, or about 15.4 percent, is allocated for education, and PHP297.6 billion for healthcare. Secretary Pangandaman also stated that a total of PHP4.057 trillion is allocated for regional development.
In the deliberations for the 2025 National Expenditure Program, the DBCC plays a crucial role in briefing Congress on the current state and outlook of the economy, which helps to ensure that the development priorities identified in the PDP 2023-2028 are adequately financed. Together, the DBM, Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA), DOF, and NEDA constitute the DBCC, while the BSP serves as a resource institution.
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