Government will borrow P1.6 trillion in addition to 2023 budget

The government will borrow P1.6 trillion to build the proposed P5.268 trillion 2023 national budget.

This is what Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said after Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel asked how the budget proposal for 2023 will be financed.

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According to Angara, in the middle of the plenary deliberation about the national budget, for the total of the proposed fund next year, P3.6 trillion will come from taxes and government income.

Of this amount, P2.67 trillion is expected to be collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), P765 billion is expected to be collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and P168.2 billion will come from non-tax revenues.

It can be recalled that in the committee hearings for the national budget proposal, Pimentel insisted that the government’s debt exceeded P13 trillion until this past August.

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Because of this, according to Pimentel, each of the 109 Filipinos has a debt of P119,458 so the use of public funds should be prudent.

The depreciation of the peso versus the dollar, as well as the net issue of government securities to finance the national budget, were the main causes of the government’s growth in debt by P495.54 billion, or 3.8 percent, month over month.

Annually, the debt load increased from P11.92 trillion the year before by 13.4 percent.

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Government will borrow P1.6 trillion in addition to 2023 budget

The Marcos government has amassed P725.27 billion in additional debt in barely three months of being in power.

It also appears that the government borrows not only for government expenses but also to pay the principal and interest on its debts.

The Committee Report on the 2023 national  has been sponsored in the Senate plenary this Tuesday.

Senate Committee on Finance chairman Senator  sponsored the committee report.

Angara said the four Ps or 4Ps shape the country’s 2023 national budget – the population, prices, projects, and payroll.

Angara is looking at three Ps that can change the course of the economy next year – Pandemic, Putin and Paeng.

“Our economy remains debilitated by the effects of long COVID. Although we have installed springboards for recovery amidst the rubble, the takeoff is not yet in the desired velocity that will propel us past the damages it has caused,” said Angara.

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