PENDING the transmittal of the 2019 budget to Malacanang, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno revealed on Tuesday that he already signed a memorandum on the national budget call for FY 2020.
The government is eyeing a P4.249-trillion national budget for 2020, as the Philippines continues to ramp up infrastructure spending.
The government is also eyeing to spend P1.222 trillion on infrastructure for 2020.
“I just signed the Budget Call. No news yet on when we will receive the enrolled copy of the [2019 General Appropriations] Bill,” Diokno told the BusinessMirror in a message.
The planned national budget for 2020 is higher than the P3.757-trillion outlay for 2019, which was already approved by Congress but has yet to reach the desk of the President. Congress is targeting to submit the money measure to Malacañang on March 1.
Budget call
Meanwhile, the budget call is a budget document issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) at the start of the budget preparation phase.
This contains the budget priorities framework, which sets the budget priorities, macroeconomic assumptions and fiscal parameters for the proposed budget. It also contains the guidelines, procedures and prescribed forms in formulating budget proposals.
According to the copy of the memorandum obtained by the BusinessMirror, the budget proposal for 2020 shall be consistent with the policies of the Duterte administration as embodied in the 0+10 Socioeconomic Agenda and Philippine Development Plan.
“Priority Programs and projects contained in the Updated 2017-2022 Public Investment Program and Approved 2020-2022 Three Year Rolling Infrastructure Program reflect the continuing emphasis on infrastructure spending,” said the memorandum. However, it pointed out, “increased infrastructure spending will not, in any way, detract from the full support provided” to the areas that are “poorest, lagging” and vulnerable to climate change and disaster risk, nor the social sector.
As the government is also modernizing the national budgeting process, Diokno also ordered the continued implementation of budget reforms, particularly the ongoing transition toward the annual cash-based budgeting system (ACBB), as well as the consolidation of national government funds to the Treasury Single Account.
“In the second year of the transition toward ACBB, there will be greater focus on ensuring the implementation-readiness of the proposals through better procurement planning, programming of projects and activities, and coordination among agencies,” the memorandum read.
“With budgeting as the last phase of the planning process, agencies are expected to anchor their budget proposals on more concrete plans and designs that outline key procurement implementation milestones, specific beneficiaries and improvement in monitoring priority outputs and results.”
Moreover, to ensure that the national priorities are responsive to regional and local needs in a manner that local government unit development capacities are strengthened in the process, agencies should also undertake consultations within the Regional Development Councils.
This also ensures that regional plans are aligned with national priorities.
Departments and agencies shall, likewise, prepare the indicative 2020 Annual Procurement Plan to support their budget proposals. This shall be a consolidation of their different procurement projects.
Despite the deletion of proposed provisions on cash-based budgeting in the bicameral version of the General Appropriations Bill ratified by both houses of Congress, Diokno last week said they would stick to the new budgeting system for 2019.
According to Section 36, Chapter 5, Book VI of Executive Order 292, or the Administrative Code of 1987, “an operational cash budget shall be implemented to ensure the availability of cash resources for priority development projects and to establish a sound basis for determining the level, type and timing of public borrowings.”
The DBM said the shift to cash-based from obligation-based budgeting will hasten the implementation of projects. A cash budget would also reflect “more accurately” the annual outputs and outcomes of the government, according to the DBM.