The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the proposed 2024 national budget will still focus on sectors prioritized in this year’s budget, such as infrastructure, agriculture, health and education.
In a statement, the DBM said the government will continue to prioritize expenditure items that will steer the economy back on a high growth path.
“We will continue the infrastructure program of the national government, from Build, Build, Build to Build, Better, More, from five to six percent of GDP (gross domestic product), now this year it’s 5.8 percent. So we’re still working on the 2024 budget, so we need to adhere with that,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said.
The budget chief also emphasized the need to continue prioritizing the budget for the agriculture sector, considering the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We all know that this year, we increased it to about 40 percent because in the previous years… we didn’t give enough investment. When the pandemic happened, everything closed — our value chains stopped, and it’s important that we have enough food in our country, enough produce,” she said.
Pangandaman added that support will likewise be given to the health and education sectors, including the upgrading of skills of the country’s workforce.
Expenditure priorities for next year are reflected in the 2024 Budget Priorities Framework, which includes infrastructure development, food security, digital transformation, enterprise development, human capital development, climate action and disaster resilience, strategic directions in transition to full devolution and research, development and innovation.
