P5.2T budget for 2022 eyed

The proposed 2022 national budget will continue to invest in building the country’s resilience amidst the pandemic by prioritizing funding for Covid-19 response measures, such as healthcare development and social services Economic managers eye a higher infrastructure spending next year, following the budget proposal for 2022 of P5.02 trillion.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said that it has approved the expenditure ceiling which was 11.5 percent higher than this year's P4.5 trillion.

"The proposed 2022 national budget will continue to invest in building the country's resilience amidst the pandemic by prioritizing funding for Covid-19 response measures, such as healthcare development and social services, while also ramping economic growth through investments in public infrastructure," the DBCC said.

As such, infrastructure program disbursement for 2022 was eyed to increase to P1.29 trillion or about 5.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product, higher than the original P1.25 trillion estimate.

DBCC sticks to growth goal

While at it, the DBCC retained its economic growth projections despite the effects of the pandemic--reaffirming its 6 to 7 percent outlook for gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

Proper risk management along with the gradual and safe reopening of the economy and faster vaccine rollout will help support the unchanged outlook, the DBCC said.

"The DBCC is optimistic that the country's GDP may return to its pre-pandemic levels as early as 2022. The DBCC will review the GDP growth projections after the release of the second quarter GDP in August," it explained.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ICTSI NORTHPORT’s inter-terminal transfers provides logistics support to port users and completes an efficient cycle that also contributes to the reduction of container trucks on the road.