Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The executive branch will ask a 2016 budget that of at least P2.606 trillion to a little over P3 trillion. This means a daily expenditure of P7.8 billion to provide all Filipinos services. Roughly, that would amount to P25,700 daily for every Filipino.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad made this announcement on Monday (June 8) at a hearing conducted by the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures.
This budget, Abad said, would be equivalent to 18.4% of the gross domestic product and aims to empower the poor by providing greater resources for social and economic services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
Recently, at an economic forum, Abad admitted that the government was forced to underspend in the first quarter of the year because tighter controls, among other things, slowed down the release of funds. This resulted in slower economic growth.
At the joint congressional hearing, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan agreed with Abad, saying that increased government expenditures would help boost the economy.
Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, pointed out that government underspending should be a cause for worry because this means that the services intended for the people would be delayed.
Abad agreed with Escudero. That was why, he said, President Benigno Aquino III set an emergency Cabinet meeting for Tuesday (June 9).
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has placed the national budget aas among its priorities when it resumes its session in July.
CNN Philippines’ Fiona Nicolas contributed to this report.
