DBCC proposes PHP6.35T budget for 2025

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is proposing a P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025, a 10% increase from this year’s P5.768-trillion budget.

The National Government’s (NG) spending plan for 2025 is equivalent to 22% of gross domestic product.

“We will present it to the full Cabinet on July 2 and to Congress on July 29. That’s one week after the State of the Nation Address (July 22),” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said in a media briefing.

In April, the DBCC had projected a P6.2-trillion budget for 2025.

The DBM said the government needs a bigger budget to fund the midterm elections in May, noting that the allowances for election volunteers.

The teaching allowance was also increased to P10,000 from P5,000 under the recently signed Republic Act No. 11997 or the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, hence the need to increase next year’s spending, Ms. Pangandaman said.

Also included in next year’s budget is the expansion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to include a first 1,000-day grant for beneficiaries who are pregnant, lactating with two-year old children.

Ms. Pangandaman attributed the increase in the budget to the higher National Tax Allotment (NTA) collections after the pandemic.

NTAs are the 40% share of the NG from three years back, which means collections for next year are based on government revenues in 2022.

Local government units are expected to receive P1.034 trillion in NTAs for next year, the DBM said earlier.

Sectors that are expected to receive higher allocations include education, health, social protection, agriculture, infrastructure, digitalization, and climate-related projects, the Budget chief said.

“In evaluating the agencies’ budget proposals for fiscal year 2025, DBM considered several factors such as the availability of fiscal space, implementation-readiness of programs and projects, agency absorptive capacity, and alignment with expenditure directions,” the DBCC said in a separate statement.

Programs under the three-year Rolling Infrastructure Program, Information Systems Strategic Plan, and the Program Convergence Budgeting were also given budget priority, it added. –– BMDC