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MALACAÑANG will submit to Congress on Wednesday its
P1.4-trillion budget proposal, described as one meant to
protect the country from the global economic slowdown
and the fuel crisis, and with emphasis on the economy,
environment and education.
President Arroyo told reporters in an informal
interaction in Clark Free Port on Tuesday night that she
has signed her budget message, which will accompany the
proposed 2009 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“It
addresses the world food and fuel crises without
forgetting the economy, environment and education,” Mrs.
Arroyo said, describing the proposed 2009 budget.
On
whether she has secured a commitment from lawmakers to
pass the proposed budget bill by December, she said:
“It’s desirable, [but] I’ve lived many years without a
budget passage.”
The
President also reiterated that the government will “try”
to have a balanced budget next year if conditions allow
it, echoing the repeated statements of her economic
managers.
Asked
whether the government can attain a balanced budget in
2009 or a year ahead of the 2010 target, she said, “If
the conditions are benign, we’ll try.”
She
maintained that credit rating agencies and the
international finance community will not be averse to a
small deficit for “as long as they see an increase in
the revenue effort” and are convinced that the deficit
was incurred “because we’re spending on addressing the
world crisis.”
The
Arroyo administration’s original balanced-budget target,
as provided in the Medium Term Philippine Development
Plan, is 2010, but this was advanced to 2008 because of
good fiscal conditions.
Citing
the global economic slowdown and soaring food and oil
prices, the government announced a reversion to the
original balanced budget target in 2010, and a “small
deficit” in 2008 and 2009.
The
President also said that Malacañang is still studying
the possible beneficiaries of the third tranche of the
proceeds from the windfall revenues of the value-added
tax (VAT) on oil, also known as Katas ng VAT. |
