Date:
April 2003
P804-Billion Government Budget for 2003
After
much deliberation, the Philippine Congress
has finally approved the P804-billion national
government budget for 2003. The new budget
is almost 3 percent higher than the P781-billion
budget approved for 2002.
The
national budget, contained in the 2003 General
Appropriations Act (Republic Act No. 9206),
will finance the operations of the national
government for the whole year.
Some
P237 billion or 29.5 percent of the total
budget will go to social services while P223
billion or 27.7 percent will be used to pay
government debt and interests. Around P162
billion is allocated for economic services;
P135 billion for general services; and P43
billion for the military.
Among
government agencies, the Department of Education
will get the largest share of the pie at P106.5
billion or 13.2 percent of the total. Some
P53.2 billion will go to the Department of
Public Works and Highways; P44.2 billion to
the Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG), P44.2 billion; P42.6 billion to the
Department of National Defense; and P16.5
billion to the Department of Agriculture.
The
Department of Health will get P10.4 billion;
the Department of Transportation and Communication,
P9.5 billion; the Judiciary, P7.6 billion;
the Department of Finance (DoF), P6.7 billion;
and the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources, PhP6.2 billion.
The
government expects to incur a budget deficit
of P202 billion or 4.6 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) this year.
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