Gov’t eyes record-high P4.2T nat’l budget for 2019

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno (Malacañang file photo)

The government is eyeing a record-high P4.2 trillion national budget for 2019, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Friday.

“It’s P4.2 trillion,” Diokno told INQUIRER.net in a text message.

The 2019 national budget will be 11.5 percent higher than the P3.767-trillion 2018 national budget, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 19, 2017.

In a press statement, the DBM said it has started budget preparations for 2019 after it issued on January 3 the budget call for 2019 under National Budget Memorandum No. 129.

“The agency budget proposals will continue to reflect administration policies such as the President’s 0+10-Point Socio-Economic Agenda, the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) and the priority programs and projects contained in the 2017-2022 Public Investment Program (PIP), and will incorporate the 2019-2021 Three-Year Rolling Infrastructure Program (TRIP),” the DBM said.                  /kga