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MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration will seek a 10 percent increase in its budget for next year and keep the deficit to two percent of the domestic economy, according to a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) official.
"We want to increase next year's budget by 10 percent from the current year, so the ceiling for next year's proposed GAA to Congress is P2 trillion," Pascua told reporters on the sidelines of the joint launch of the Department of Budget and Management's 2012 People’s Budget and online portal Budget ng Bayan.
Starting next year, the government will contain its fiscal deficit at no more than two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) - a ratio that would be sustained until President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office in 2016.
"That was the plan and we are sticking to it," Pascua said.
This year’s General Appropriations Act amounts to P1.816-trillion, while the budget deficit cap is set at P279 billion or about 2.6 percent of GDP.
An indicator of economic performance, GDP is the amount of final goods and services produced in a country, while the deficit-to-GDP ratio is a key measure of how long the government can sustain revenue shortfalls.
Pascua said bulk of the increase in next year’s budget would go to the government’s priority projects such as social and economic services.
"The items that would enjoy substantial increases in the proposed 2013 budget are education, healthcare, livelihood programs, agriculture and infrastructure," she said.
Next month, the DBM will start conducting its program budgeting hearing with government departments, agencies and instrumentalities, she added.
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