96% budget hike for BTR

MEANWHILE, the Bureau of the Treasury’s budget for next year will surge by 96 percent to P4.23 billion in 2022 from P2.16 billion in 2021. However, the bulk of its appropriation for 2022 will be for national government operations, with only 26 percent for its regular operations.

ese national government expenses, which make up 74 percent of the Treasury’s budget, include the Philippines’s quota subscriptions or equity contributions to continue being a member of different multilateral institutions. Such membership in various multilateral institutions gives the Philippines continued access to concessional financing and technical expertise to support key projects and programs and allows it to vote on policies and plans of action that these institutions undertake.

“Our equity contributions are pooled together with the contributions of other member-countries to fund projects and programs supported by these multilateral banks. In essence, the Philippines is both a contributor and a beneficiary of its equity investments in these multilateral institutions,” Dominguez explained.

e Office of the Secretary’s (OSEC) proposed budget is at P1.1 billion, or 30 percent more than its appropriations this year, owing to the increase in its maintenance and other operating expenses. ese include operating requirements for projects such as the digital Philippine National Single Window that will allow the automation and streamlining of trade processes among the different regulatory agencies.

e OSEC will also improve the Philippine Tax Academy, an essential institution that trains all revenue agencies to improve their competitiveness and expertise. is includes the training of municipal treasurers and provincial treasurers.

e remaining five Dof-attached agencies—privatization and Management Office, Bureau of Local Government Finance, Insurance Commission, Central Board of Assessment Appeals, and the National Tax Research Center—have a combined proposed budget of P723.2 million or around 3 percent of the total DOF budget.

e increases in their appropriations mainly owe to their respective information and communications technology infrastructure upgrades to support the ongoing modernization programs to prepare for the new economy, Dominguez said.