DBM proposes P3T budget for 2016

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will pitch the approval of a P3-trillion national budget for next year.

The proposed 2016 budget is 15 percent higher than the P2.606 trillion earmarked for this year.

In a statement, the DBM said next year’s budget would allocate P581 billion or about a fifth of the total for new programs and projects as well for the expansion of existing initiatives.

The bulk of the 2016 budget, or P2.42 trillion, however, would be spent on ongoing government projects and programs.

“The DBM was able to come up with this estimated fiscal space, thanks to the two-tier approach, which gives agencies a better focus on program planning. Under this approach, government departments are able to prioritize which of their programs they can concentrate on to accommodate more productive expenditures,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.

The DBM said it arrived at the P581-billion fiscal space estimate following its tier 1 assessment of the budgetary process which, the agency said, took into account the projected requirements of programs and projects currently under implementation.

The DBM said tier 2 consultations through technical budget hearings, wherein budget proposals for new or expanded programs and projects could be pitched, were ongoing.

“However, departments and agencies should ensure that their proposals are supportive of the strategies and objectives identified in the budget priorities framework and they will need to justify these during the consultation process, which started last May 18,” the DBM said.

“Using the two-tier approach, we’re able to fine-tune our budget process by establishing a clearer framework to determine the allocations for ongoing programs and projects. We’ve also set up a process to evaluate new and expanded proposals so as to encourage agencies to think of more innovative programs and projects that will benefit Filipinos. This allows us at the DBM to focus on the evaluation of these new spending proposals in terms of their quality and significance,” according to Abad.