IS it too little and rather late to do any good?

That is how a number of quarters critical of the administration’s economic policies have separately described the P72-billion stimulus-spending package announced by President Aquino only a few weeks ago.

His administration has been under fire from opposition leaders for being, in a sense, pennywise but pound-foolish. They say it has been a big mistake to strongly restrict public spending, which has only made idle funds that should, otherwise, have been freed for infrastructure projects that would, in turn, have cranked up economic activity in the country.

Those who say the P72-billion package is too small to make an impact argue that the amount is equivalent to less than 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Something in the magnitude of a 2-percent to 3-percent equivalent might achieve some of the desired effect, but not a mere P72 billion, they add.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, however, revealed that the President approved only P72 billion because of concerns “on the rate of absorption” or its trickle-down effect. In effect, Abad is saying, the administration wants to make sure every single peso released from the national coffers under the program would count or have the desired “high economic impact.”

Abad was quick to add that if the absorption rate proved to be faster or more efficient than expected, then the administration may increase the spending package by P20 billion.

Some P26.895 billion of the package would be handled by 12 government-owned and -controlled corporations—the Light Railway Transit, National Electrification Authority, National Housing Authority, Philippine Heart Center, Credit Information Corp., Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Philippine Postal Corp., Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Children’s Medical Center and Lung Center of the Philippines.

The bulk of the package would go to the major departments of the bureaucracy, such as finance, agriculture, agrarian reform, national defense, budget and management, justice, tourism, science and technology, public works and highways, health, transportation and communications, and local governments. They will divide some P45.165 billion among themselves.

The stimulus spending was really timed to help enable the country to face the tenuous situation in the global economy. Poverty alleviation, national infrastructure and the Metro Rail Transport system would get a total of P18.3 billion.

The way I see it, however, there shouldn’t be any need for despair on the part of those who are worried about how the economy would hold up in the face of an imminent double-dip recession to be triggered in Europe by a default on the part of Greece.

Actually, there already has been a significant shift in the government’s spending policy. This is very clearly indicated by the “catch-up” stimulus- spending package announced early in the fourth quarter.

Add to that the government’s resolve to meet the challenges of 2012 with a P1.8-trillion budget, which was P155 billion or 10.4-percent larger than this year’s budget. (The budget for 2012 includes a 60-percent increase in the outlay for agriculture, and hefty funding increases for other job-generating projects.)

That the administration avoided any accompanying fanfare in the policy change may have been deliberate. I suspect the President simply didn’t want to give critics of his early “Scrooge-like” position in the handling of public funds the satisfaction that it was their nagging that made him do it.

As anybody can plainly see, the whole world is on the verge of an economic turmoil—described as a “double-dip” (recession) that would follow so close on the heels of the great financial meltdown on Wall Street a few of years ago.

Just yesterday, the newspapers were full of news of the general strike called by all unions in Greece, which has been trapped for three years in a deep recession and “strangled by a public debt equivalent to 162 percent of its GDP.”

The general strike had the effect of shutting down an entire country. With its citizens in a lynching mood, the situation could blow up to unmanageable proportions.

But what the whole world, including the Philippines, is worried about is the global consequences of the crisis in Greece. A financial contagion far beyond the shores of Europe could be triggered the moment Greece goes into default. And Greece seems to be irreversibly nearing that point.

A Grecian default could easily spread across Europe like a wildfire. Other problematic states in the single-currency zone, such as Spain, Italy or Portugal, know there is no escape.

Worst scenario would be the dissolution of the union. The euro would then become history as a consequence.

The situation in Greece is so bad, according to Newsweek, that its only hope is to be bailed out in a big way by Germany. But Prime Minister Angela Merkel can hardly do anything about it. The Germans are staunchly against the squandering of hard-earned German wealth.

The United States, for its part, has its plate full and hardly in any position to give Greece the kind of help it needs. The biggest economy of the world is right now grappling with its own domestic crises, such as high unemployment, very low consumer confidence and low industrial output. Politically, never before has disenchantment with Obama’s economic leadership soared so high. All these have made economic recovery impossible.

It’s so bad that Obama’s chance of winning a second term in next year’s election is no longer in the cards.

The global situation certainly is something that the Philippines must closely monitor and prepare for. More and more internal spending is a step to toward insulating the domestic economy from damaging external forces that may come its way when the “double-dip” comes.

This could best be done by whipping up all possible productive activities within our shores.

It’s just like putting up additional foundations and braces for a frail and humble home whose occupants know a big storm is coming at any moment and could blow their frail shelter away.

Preparations would include stocking up on food, medicines, batteries, blankets and other items—to ensure the entire household’s survival during the hurricane. In short, self-sufficiency must be achieved.

In other words, there’s no use relying on others to come to our rescue when a deluge hits. It will really be all up to us and our capacity to cope with the strongest blows that a crisis could bring.

No doubt about it, despite reassuring words to the contrary, the government sees it coming, and it is actually preparing for it.

Still, former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno seems pessimistic the stimulus package would have any beneficial effect this late in 2011. “There are only 10 weeks remaining in the year,” he was quoted as having said.

In contrast, the Singapore-based economist Matt Hildebrandt of JPMor-gan Chase & Co. is more optimistic. Hildebrandt said if the package would permit the government “to get spending out the door, then it’s going to be useful, especially since external demands may soften further.”

And all I can say is this. Better late than never, and the P72 billion to P92 billion is certainly better than nothing.

Waste no more time; let the spending begin.

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