Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said total government borrowings under the 2024 National Expenditure Program will increase by 11.8 percent to P2.46 trillion from P2.2 trillion in 2023.
“The increase compared to the 2023 borrowing plan was due to foreign exchange,” Pangandaman said in a statement. She said 75 percent of the proposed total borrowings would be sourced domestically, while 25 percent would come from other countries.
NEP is the national government’s spending plan for the next fiscal year. Once approved by Congress, it will be known as the General Appropriations Bill, and once passed into law, it will be known as the General Appropriations Act.
Pangandaman said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his Cabinet recently approved the proposed NEP for fiscal year 2024.
The proposed national budget for fiscal year 2024 is set at P5.768 trillion, equivalent to 21.8 percent of the gross domestic product and representing an increase of 9.5 percent from P5.268 trillion in 2023.
Pangandaman said the proposed 2024 budget would prioritize expenditures that would sustain economic growth bearing in mind inclusivity and sustainability, consistent with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, and the administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda.
Pangandaman said the government would push for new revenue measures including additional taxes on sweetened beverages and salty food within the year.
She said for the first year of implementation alone, revenues to be generated from the sugary beverages were projected to hit around P40 billion to P50 billion.
“On salty food, [we don’t have the figures] because this is still being studied. But [DoF] Secretary Benjamin Diokno and the Department of Finance are very positive on the passage of said revenue measures,” Pangandaman said.
The DOF said the revision of the excise tax on sugary drinks could raise around P53.7 billion; motor vehicles, P15.8 billion; and mining, P12.4 billion. Diokno said these new tax measures would be on top of the remaining tax reform packages that were left behind by the Duterte administration.