National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 will support the government’s efforts to address inflation, protect the purchasing power of Filipino families and address constraints to investment and inclusive economic growth.
“We are determined to address the inflation problem, resulting in the easing of both food and non-food inflation. The country’s overall inflation has been decelerating since February 2023, with both food and non-food inflation moderating,” Balisacan said during the national budget briefing at the Senate Committee on Finance on Aug. 15, 2023.
He said despite the moderate 5.3-percent growth in the first half of 2023, risks remained and might aggravate inflation and decrease Filipinos’ purchasing power.
Balisacan said household consumption remained the main driver of economic growth on the expenditure side as it grew 6.0 percent in the first half of 2023, despite domestic and external headwinds.
He said the economic team would focus on and commit to sustaining the downward trend in inflation by intensifying supply-side interventions and demand-side management.
He said the government would implement priority measures ensuring food security and reducing transport, logistics and energy costs to strengthen the purchasing power of Filipinos.
Balisacan said along with other measures to ramp up spending by the public sector, the government was optimistic the Philippine economy would grow by at least 6.6 percent in the second semester of 2023 to achieve the full-year growth target of 6 percent to 7 percent.
“We need to grow by 6.6 percent in the second half in order to achieve the lower target of 6 percent for the entire year. We really believe that it is achievable. We have not lost the value of the underspending in the first semester that we can deploy in the second semester. That will actually add to the assumed growth of 6.2 percent for the second semester,” he said.
He said all the underspent resources would be put into the second semester.
“Inflation is also expected to further decelerate. That would buoy consumer demand, investment, and the rest of the economy,” he said.
Senators earlier expressed concern on the government’s lackluster disbursement performance in the first semester which only reached P2.41 trillion, lower by 6.6 percent compared to the P2.58 trillion program.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said 93 percent of the 2023 national budget as of end-July 2023 had already been released.
Pangandaman said the low disbursement against the program was due to the substantial outstanding checks recorded as of end-June 2023; lower-than-programmed interest payments in view of the settlement of premia from the re-issuances of bonds; ongoing implementation of social protection programs, particularly the registration and validation of beneficiaries; procurement-related difficulties; ongoing right-of-way acquisition; and billing concerns from suppliers/creditors, such as late submissions of billing statements and compliance with documentary requirements.