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MANILA – The government is on track to meet its medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF) goals that would help the country achieve economic transformation, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Thursday.
During the briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on the proposed PHP5.768-trillion 2024 national budget, Diokno said the economic team has set the MTFF targets to achieve the 8-point socioeconomic agenda of the Marcos administration by 2028.
He said the Department of Finance (DOF) aims to (1) bring down debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025; (2) reduce deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent by 2028; and (3) maintain investment in infrastructure at 5 to 6 percent of GDP annually. In 2022, infrastructure spending was at 5 percent.
In terms of revenue, Diokno said tax revenue is projected to increase from PHP3.5 trillion in 2023 to PHP6.5 trillion pesos in 2028, or from 14.4 to 16.9 percent of GDP.
Meanwhile, non-tax revenue is estimated to grow from PHP191.1 billion in 2023 to PHP183.7 billion in 2028.
"We are on track to meet the MTFP targets. In fact, in 2022, the national government revenue collections increased by 18 percent year-on-year and exceeded the DBCC targets," he said. "Similarly, in the first semester of 2023, revenues grew by 7.7 percent and exceeded the DBCC targets."
He said the DOF also implemented the fiscal consolidation program to further drive down the debt-to-GDP ratio, which along with the projected high GDP growth, is expected to bring the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to almost below 60 percent by 2025.
"Our actual debt-to-GDP last year of 60.9 percent is significantly lower than the 62.0 percent MTFF commitment. And with our deficit program down to 6.1 percent this year and 5.1 percent next year, we are confident that we will be able to achieve the MTFF near-term target of reducing our debt-to-GDP ratio to below 60 percent by 2025, if not earlier," he said.
He said the finance department has identified legislative priorities to stay on track in achieving the government's MTFF targets.
These include the passage of the remaining tax reform packages of the previous administration, the excise tax on single-use plastics (SUP), rationalization of mining fiscal regime, motor vehicle road users tax, excise tax on sweetened beverage and junk food, tax on pre-mixed alcohol, value added tax on digital service providers, carbon taxation, capital market development bill, and the military and uniformed personnel pension reform bill.
"We will continue to work with Congress in pushing for key reforms crucial to accelerating economic development," he said. “These tax revenue measures will enable us to raise revenues totaling PHP120.5 billion or 0.5 percent of GDP in 2024 and PHP183.2 billion or 0.6 percent of GDP in 2026."
Flood control projects
During the same briefing, CIBAC Party-List Representative Eddie Villanueva called for a tighter scrutiny of flood control budgets lodged in separate agencies in the proposed 2024 national budget.
Villanueva noted that several provinces in Luzon, particularly Bulacan and Pampanga, were heavily submerged in floods caused by the heavy rains of Typhoons Egay and Falcon.
He said this occurred despite a PHP280-billion allocation in the 2023 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for flood control management program, as well as other flood mitigation projects in the budgets of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
“Naalala ko po sa aming pagsilip po sa 2024 National Expenditure Program o NEP, almost the same kinds of projects ang popondohan for next year (I remember while looking at the 2024 National Expenditure Program or NEP, almost the same kinds of projects are funded for next year),” Villanueva said.
“Puro (All are) flood control structures along rivers, slope protection, revetment, river wall, etc. These are the kinds of projects na pinopondohan natin in the previous years pero palala pa rin nang palala ang pagbaha sa ating bansa. Gusto ko sanang malaman kung effective ba ang ganitong approach? Heto ba ang solusyon sa problema natin sa pagbaha? (These are the kinds of projects that we are funding in the previous years, but the country still faces worsening floods. I want to know if this approach is effective? Is this the solution to our flood problem?,” he queried.
He said the funding against flood amounts to PHP1 billion daily.
He emphasized the need to assess whether these flood control projects are effectively implemented to ensure accountability.
"Bigyan po natin ng special na pagsilip ang mga flood control budgets during this budget season (We need to put the flood control budget under special scrutiny this budget season)," he said.
Budget and Management Secretary Pangandaman, in response, said a total of PHP255 billion has been provided in the NEP under the DPWH budget, as well as foreign-assisted projects.
"Maybe in the implementation or maybe prioritization again of our flood control projects, we can relay the same to the secretary of DPWH," Pangandaman said.
Speaker Martin Romualdez gave the House five weeks to pass the 2024 General Appropriations Bill, with around four weeks for committee deliberations and another week for plenary debates.
Romualdez urged House members to actively participate in the budget deliberation, listen and respect everyone’s view, particularly the concerns of those from the minority, and reach a consensus that is beneficial to the country, especially to the poor and marginalized among the people.
“Together, let us be a champion of fiscal prudence, effective resource allocation, and transparent governance," he said. (PNA)
