In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is examining the national budget for 2023 to support any economic stimulus measures.
When asked if there were sufficient funds in the 2022 General Appropriations Act for the stimulus package being proposed by House members, Marcos responded that there was little room for maneuver within the current national budget.
“There are slight differences because although it has been disbursed, not all of it has been spent, so mayroon pa tayong breathing room pero kaunti na lang,” Marcos Jr. said.
“And so that’s why we will have to look to the new budget, the budget for 2023, which is presently being written,” he added.
“We have to look at that to find sufficient funds for the things we want to do,” the next president said.
“Basically, move some public expenditure away from non-investment expenditures to more investment expenditures, again to revitalize, to retool the economy,” he added.
House leaders led by Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez are looking to pass a stimulus package dubbed Bangon Bayan Muli Bill under the 19th Congress, which will convene after June 30.
Marcos looking at 2023 national budget to ‘retool economy’
Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin, appears to have a lock on the speakership after having drawn the support of several parties and many House members.
The BBM bill is being eyed to allow the incoming president to harness the resources available to him at the end of 2022 to finance measures addressing the pandemic.
Two Bayanihan laws have been passed to supplement funds for the recovery and response of the government against the COVID-19 pandemic.
As domestic and offshore borrowings surged, the National Government’s (NG) outstanding debt reached a record P12.68 trillion as of the end of March, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
According to preliminary BTr figures, outstanding debt increased by 17.73 percent from P10.77 trillion a year ago and by 4.81 percent from February.
The BTr attributed the increase in debt “primarily due to the net issuance of government securities to both local and external lenders.”
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