Sec. Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) FILE PHOTO / Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
The government’s priority projects aimed at improving food security, infrastructure, and the economic climate have been assured of funding for 2025 and beyond without the need for new taxes, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Thursday.
Both the executive and legislative branches of government agreed in a meeting at Malacañang that there is no need for new taxes to fund the government’s P6.120-trillion budget.
“We have a few of those new [tax] measures that had been identified in several fora and by [Finance] Secretary Ralph Recto and the [Development & Budget Coordination Committee],” Balisacan said at a Palace briefing with newly confirmed Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque.
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“But the key to enhancing our revenue now is the improvement in the administration of our tax laws,” Balisacan said after President Marcos summoned his economic managers to a meeting with Senate President Francis Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez to discuss the 2025 budget.
“The President stressed this, and we all agreed, the leadership of Congress agreed, that we need to ensure that the projects of this administration in relation to the high-priority projects … are achieved,” he said.
Balisacan, concurrently director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, also downplayed the “noise” brought about by politicians ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.
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The political bickering will just have “minimal to no impact” on its economy and investment outlook, Balisacan said.
“I think that the impact of noises such as what we have now, if there is anything, may be quite minimal. And the last 12 or so years will bear on that.”
Cut through the noise
Since the 1990s, he explained, “the economy continued to progress despite political noises simply because the economic policies and directions have been broadly sustained.”
Aldeguer-Roque agreed with Balisacan’s observation.
“Actually, there are a lot of investments that are coming in and we are pursuing those investments. They haven’t mentioned anything yet about these things that are happening in our country,” she said in the same press briefing.
The trade secretary echoed the government’s wariness on inflation, particularly at this time of the year when prices traditionally spike because of the Christmas season.
“First and foremost, for the prices for basic necessities, no price increase until the end of the year,” Aldeguer-Roque said, noting that some Christmas items have increased but by less than 5 percent.
She explained these increases are necessary to account for rising costs, particularly for imported goods. However, the adjustments were kept minimal to ensure they would not overly burden consumers.
Balisacan said external factors, like the return of US President-elect Donald Trump to the White House and other developments, will indeed “pose a kind of uncertainty for us.”