PREPARATIONS for the 2025 national budget remain ‘on track,’ the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Wednesday.
On the sidelines of a conference, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman told reporters that government agencies have submitted their Tier 1 proposals, which cover budgets for ongoing programs.
“By the end of March, Tier 1 would be completed… and then we’ll ask them to submit their Tier 2,” she said.
She said no issues have cropped up as yet to delay the submission of the budget.
“Government agencies are used to this. This is our third budget (under the Marcos administration), and they know their priorities already.”
Under the Constitution, the National Expenditure Program, or the National Government’s spending plan for next year, must be submitted to Congress within 30 days after the President’s State of the Nation Address.
The DBM is scheduled to transmit budget documents to Congress on July 22.
Next year’s national budget is P6.12 trillion, or 6.1% higher than the spending plan for 2024.
“The Fiscal Year 2025 budget aims to continuously address the socio-economic issues our country has been facing, e.g., high food prices, increasing fuel prices, and the scars that the pandemic has left, among others,” the DBM has said.
In a national budget memorandum released this week, the DBM said the budget priorities for Tier 2 proposals included food security, health, education, social protection, and shovel-ready infrastructure projects. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
