MANILA, Philippines – The proposal for a reenacted budget for the entire 2019 would mean “lost opportunities” for higher economic growth, Malacañang said Thursday.
“A reenacted budget as a result of a budget impasse would hurt our economy,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
“This would translate to lost opportunities for higher growth as our economic managers are estimating a loss of 1 to 2.3 percentage points in the full-year gross domestic product in the event that the 2019 budget will not be passed,” Panelo added.
His statement came after Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said a reenacted budget for the whole year would be “disastrous” to our economy.
READ: Medialdea: Reenacted budget for entire 2019 ‘disastrous’ to economy
Panelo cited that the government’s infrastructure projects under the multi-trillion Build Build Build program “would severely be affected.”
“The ordinary Filipino would be the one greatly affected as there would be fewer openings of employment for him or her, not to mention lesser work productivity for those employed as a result of delays in the completion of badly needed transport and road network,” he said.
“Programs of various departments this year intended for poverty reduction, health promotion, and peace and security advancement, to mention a few, would be inevitably affected as well,” he added.
He said members of “Congress know of the dire consequences of a reenacted budget and we are appreciative of the statement made by some members of the bilateral committee that it will endeavour to pass the General Appropriations Bill next week.”
“The Executive Branch has already done its part in the budgeting process, we eagerly await Congress to complete the process, so are the Filipino people,” he said.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday propose a reenacted national budget for the entire 2019 as the budget impasse continues due to alleged “insertions” and questionable allocations.
READ: ‘Sick and tired’ of pork talk, Sotto moves for reenacted budget
The government has been operating on a reenacted budget since the start of the year after Congress failed to pass its proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019. /muf