The Finance Department expects the timely approval of the P4.1-trillion national budget this year to offset the economic risks posed by the recent Taal Volcano eruption and the coronavirus disease 2019.
It said in an economic bulletin that the “early approval of the 2020 budget will enable the public sector to be implemented on time this year.”
“This will moderate the negative impact of the Taal eruption and the global uncertainties arising from the coronavirus outbreak,” it said.
The delayed approval of the P3.7-trillion 2019 national budget caused economic growth to settle at 5.9 percent last year, missing the official target range of 6 percent to 6.5 percent.
Finance officials said the catch-up expenditure plan launched by the government after the election ban boosted expenditures by 27.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
