(Eagle News) — For the Palace, a “reenacted budget as a result of budget impasse” will ultimately hurt the country’s economy.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Jan. 31, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it would, after all, “translate to lost opportunities for higher growth..”
He said economic managers were “estimating a loss of 1 to 2.3 percentage points in the full-year gross domestic product” in the event the 2019 budget is not passed.
He added the government’s infrastructure projects under the Build, Build, Build program “would severely be affected,” and the “programs of various departments this year intended for poverty reduction, health promotion and peace and security advancement…would be inevitably affected as well.”
“The ordinary Filipino would be the one greatly affected as there would be fewer openings of employment for him or her, not to mention lesser work productivity for those employed as a result of delays in the completion of badly needed transport and road network,” he said.
According to Panelo, Congress, where the debates on the proposed national budget are being held, already “know of the dire consequences of a reenacted budget..”
“The executive branch has already done its part in the budgeting process, we eagerly await Congress to complete the process, so are the Filipino people,” he said.
Earlier, Senate President Tito Sotto proposed a reenacted budget for 2019, following what appears to be an impasse in Congress brought about by debates on alleged anomalies in the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget.
On Wednesday, Jan. 30, the bicameral conference committee agreed to approve the proposed national budget for 2019 on Feb. 6, an act which the Palace was “appreciative of” based on Panelo’s statement.