INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The proposed P13.273-billion budget of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) for next year is set for final deliberations and approval at the Senate plenary.
The Senate subcommittee on finance passed on Wednesday Neda’s 2023 spending plan, which, according to its chief Arsenio Balisacan, was 6.04 percent lower than the agency’s 2022 budget.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) still got the lion’s share in Neda’s 2023 budget pie at P9.866 billion. However, Balisacan pointed out that this was below the P11.1 billion funding it has this year.
“That lower budget can be attributed to the accomplishments or to the components of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), which was already conducted and procured in 2022,” he explained.
Balisacan also outlined PSA’s objectives for 2023, which includes delivering 92 million physical and digital PhilSys cards, and registering 24 million Filipinos and foreign residents for demographic and biometric capture.
The Senate finance subcommittee also approved the P3.088 million budget for the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council among other budget proposals.
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