THE GOVERNMENT is looking at a P4.64-trillion spending plan for 2021, about 13% more than the P4.1-trillion national budget for next year which made it out of Congress on Wednesday, Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said.

“The proposed 2021 national budget will continue to support anti-poverty and peace-sustaining measures through funding of recently approved legislative measures,” Mr. Avisado said during the press conference on Wednesday.

The proposed budget for 2021 is equivalent to 20.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), he said.

Budget Undersecretary Laura B. Pascua said that revenues are programmed at P3.85 trillion.

Last week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued the national budget call for 2021, ordering government offices to start crafting their spending plans for the year.

Mr. Avisado said that for 2021, the cash budgeting system (CBS) will still be implemented to encourage state offices to spend their allocations on time by limiting project obligation of such funds to within the fiscal year, compared to two years previously.

For 2021, the budget will fund the government’s priority social protection and economic programs such as the Universal Health Care program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, farmer safeguards under the Rice Tariffication Law, share in national taxes of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the universal access to quality tertiary education, the national government’s refocusing of assistance to local governments with high poverty incidence, as well as for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. — Beatrice M. Laforga

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