|
Philippine economic growth will rise this year,
thanks to increased spending on infrastructure and services under
the 2007 budget that will soon be signed into law, senior officials
said on Tuesday.
The passage of the budget will be
a huge step forward for President Arroyo’s government, which has
had only two budgets passed since 2001.
Last year the government was
forced to reenact the 2005 budget when the opposition-dominated
Senate blocked the bill.
“This budget helps put our
fiscal house in order and signals to the world that the Philippines
is raring and more than ready to do more business and bring the
fruits of the economy down to every household,” Mrs. Arroyo said
in a statement.
She said government would also
push for disciplined spending, cutting red tape and checking graft
and corruption.
“Thank God, we have a budget, a
new one. We won’t have to live on a re-enacted budget like last
year,” said Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya in a television
interview.
Under the P1.13-trillion
($22.9-billion) budget passed by the Senate late Monday, spending on
infrastructure will be increased by P75 billion, said Andaya.
Last year the government spent
P38.7 billion on infrastructure, the equivalent of 0.73 percent of
the country’s total economic output.
Spending on public works, heath
and education will also be increased.
Andaya said even with the new
budget, the government was still targeting a budget deficit of only
P63 billion, adding that any additional revenues from privatization
would be spent on infrastructure.
The government had a 2006 budget
deficit target of P125 billion but looked on course to see a
shortfall of only P90 billion, officials said last month.
“We are certain this budget
will not only facilitate government operations this year but more
important. . . make a difference in the lives of 85 million
Filipinos,” said Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Franklin
Drilon.
In the past, because the
government was working on reenacted budgets, the government had to
restrain its spending which prevented the implementation of key
projects crucial to economic growth.
Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman,
Ignacio Bunye, said with the new budget the government could now
carry out more infrastructure projects and implement new social
services in education and health.
--AFP and Sam Mediavilla
|
