₧4-B daily budget hole to be filled with debt

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE proposed 2024 national budget of P5.767 trillion translates to an average daily spending of P15.8 billion, but only P11.7 billion of this is supportable by revenues, leaving a P4-billion hole that must be filled with debt, Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said on Sunday.

T he Philippines’s outstanding debt at the end of 2024 is projected to reach P15.841 trillion as the Marcos Jr. admin- istration is set to borrow more money to bankroll the national government’s recordhigh P5.768-trillion budget for next year.

T he government expects better revenue collection next year and is targeting to earn P4.272 trillion from tax and non-tax measures, which is P71 billion higher than its previous target of P4.201 trillion for 2024.

“ To fully grasp the dimensions of the budget, you have to compute it on a daily basis to fully appreciate the enormity of both spending and borrowing,” Recto said.

In easy-to-remember figures, this is the lowdown: P15.8 billion will be spent per day. But the tax can only fund P11.7 billion. So there is P4 billion to be loaned,” he said.

According to Recto, based on the actual disbursements, daily expenses must be covered to the tune of roughly P3.7 billion.

R ecto said that while the “art of budget marketing perfected by all governments” focuses on what will be spent, “what is downplayed is the enormous money required to finance it.” “ Programs that dazzle are highlighted while muting the cost, a great portion of which is paid by debts left to the next generation to pay,” Recto said. Payment for interest alone on the burgeoning public debt will be around P1.8 billion a day next year, he said.

T he Marcos Jr. administration will borrow P1.853 trillion next year from the domestic market through the sale of Treasury bills (T-bills) and Treasury bonds (T-bonds). The Bureau of the Treasury will tender P51.050 billion worth of T-bills and P1.802 trillion worth of T-bonds next year.

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THE Department of Finance

(DOF) is mulling over extending the reduced tariff rates on four commodities, which includes rice and pork, to keep the country’s inflation rate in check.

“ We are reviewing the possible extension. We will have a meeting next month to review if we have to extend [the tariff rates],” Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a recent press briefing.

T he review involves four commodities: rice, corn, pork and fish, according to Finance Undersecretary Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja.

T he reduced tariff rates on rice, corn and pork are set to expire by yearend as stipulated under President Marcos Jr.’s Executive Order

We want to stick the landing, as they say in gymnastics,” Remolona said. “We wanna get to the target range without overshooting it too much. I think we will overshoot a little bit pero hindi kami madadapa [but we won’t fall down]. From getting to the target range, I think we can settle comfortably within the 2-4 percent target range.”

(EO) 10 series of 2023. Under EO 10, the tariffs for pork range between 15 and 25 percent while corn imports have a tariff rate of 5 to 15 percent. Rice imports are levied with a uniform 35-percent tariff, based on EO 10. T he current administration has kept the lower tariffs on the three agricultural commodities until the end of the year “to maintain affordable prices” of food items and “ensure food security” in the country.

A benoja explained that the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) has started to review the present tariff rates of the four commodities as well as other drivers of inflation.