(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2021.
In a statement, the Department of Budget and Management said the approval was made during a special meeting with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) held on July 30.
In view of the President’s approval, the DBM said it would be finalizing the FY 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP) and other budget documents for submission to Congress before the 30-day deadline stipulated by the Constitution.
The approved proposed budget is higher than this year’s budget by 9.9 percent and equivalent to 21.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product, the DBM said.
The DBM said the proposed FY 2021 budget “aims to sustain government efforts towards effectively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing government spending on improving our healthcare systems, ensuring food security, increasing investments in public and digital infrastructure, and helping communities cope and prevail in these trying times, hence, the theme “Reset, Rebound and Recover: Investing for resiliency and sustainability.”
“The theme is consistent with the Administration’s goal of saving lives and protecting communities while making different sectors of the economy stronger and more agile. Every peso of the proposed PhP4.506 trillion FY 2021 Budget went through numerous budget hearings and consultations with the agencies, and levels of scrutiny and approval,” the DBM said.
