The Philippines would be “one step closer” to realizing the government’s “transformative vision” for the country once Congress accepts the proposed National Budget for 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.
The Chief Executive made the remarks in his Budget Message on Wednesday as the Department of Budget and Management turned over the Marcos administration’s proposed 2024 budget or National Expenditure Program worth P5.768 trillion to Congress.
In his message, Marcos explained that the proposed budget aims to provide the resources required for government operations and the ongoing pursuit of economic reform.
Initial information from the DBM showed that the proposed budget is 9.8 percent higher than the P5.268 trillion General Appropriations Act or the enacted budget for 2023.
“With the Congress’s approval of the proposed (Fiscal Year) 2024 National Budget, we will be one step closer to achieving our transformative vision for the country, the Agenda of Prosperity,” Marcos said.
“Our journey has just begun. We will march on — one nation, one people building a better future together,” he added.
The President said that the proposed budget for 2024 was a key part of the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028, which aims to strengthen the country’s capabilities, protect the buying power of Filipinos, and improve output sectors to create more good jobs and products that can compete globally.
“In turn, these strategies are to be supported by an enabling environment characterized by macroeconomic stability, infrastructure development, bureaucratic efficiency, strong rule of law and effective climate action,” Marcos said.
The President also highlighted the “strong headwinds” the country had to deal with last year as it tried to get its economy back on track.
He pointed out that his economic managers made the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, which is now the “bedrock” of the plan to change the economy, to deal with these problems.
The Chief Executive said that the Philippines’ gross domestic product grew by 7.6 percent for the whole year of 2022, the biggest since 1976.
Marcos said that the country’s growth “set the stage” for continued growth in 2023, mentioning that the country’s economy expanded by 6.4 percent for the first quarter of 2023, surpassing its Asian peers such as Indonesia, China and Vietnam.
The World Bank, he also said, declared that the country could reach above-middle-income status within two years.
“Likewise expressing confidence in our country’s economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said that it was ‘highest among the ASEAN-5’, noting its resilience to global pressures,” the Filipino leader added.
Marcos Jr. likewise cited the country’s good credit quality standing, improved revenue performance and high employment rate.
“Our immediate economic recovery was the result of the collective effort of the Filipinos. Unity was what made it happen,” Marcos said.
“For the next five years, we must do more, building on all the gains that we have made – through the same whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. We need this not only to be effective but to be transformative,” he concluded.