President Rodrigo Duterte approved the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 on July 30, Thursday.
The decision was made during a special meeting with the Development Budget Coordination Committee, the Palace said in a statement.
The 2021 national budget will be 9.9 percent higher compared with this year’s outlay and is equivalent to 21.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
The budget aims to sustain government efforts toward the effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic by focusing on improving healthcare systems, ensuring food security, increasing public and digital infrastructure investments, and helping communities “cope and prevail” in these trying times, the Palace said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the 2021 budget theme “Reset, Rebound and Recover: Investing for resiliency and sustainability” is consistent with the administration’s intention to save lives and protect communities.
With the president’s approval, DBM will finalize and submit the FY 2021 National Expenditure Program and other documents to the congress before the 30-day constitutional deadline, the Palace said. Isabel S. Macaraeg