The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) held a public webinar on December 9, 2021, which will featured the PIDS study “Analyzing the President’s Budget for 2022” authored by PIDS Research Fellow Charlotte Justine Diokno-Sicat and PIDS Senior Research Specialist Robert Hector G. Palomar. This study provides an overall perspective of the budget and examines how the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP), also called the President’s budget, embodies the priorities identified by the national government. It looks at how the President’s budget for 2022 plans to address many urgent needs, such as providing social safety nets to minimize economic and human capital scarring and sustaining strategic infrastructure investments to spur economic growth. In terms of the continued COVID-19 management and human capital investment and consistent with declared priorities in the National Budget Call, spending on health and social protection is prioritized. With the implementation of the Supreme ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petition, the national tax allotment (formerly known as the internal revenue allotment) is 38 percent higher in 2022, almost 20 percent of the proposed budget. Despite greater devolution, the budget still includes some LGU assistance programs, such as the new growth equity fund (GEF) targeted at poorer LGUs. Institutional reforms, such as the Medium-Term Information and Communications Technology Harmonization Initiative (MITHI) and convergence programs, are also present to help reshape and improve the delivery of public goods and services through investments in information and communications technology. However, the 2022 NEP is projected to increase the debt-to-GDP ratio to 60.8 percent, the highest since 2006. To benefit from increased borrowing, fiscal authorities need to be both strategic and prudent in spending.
A copy of the study may be downloaded here:
Analysis of the 2022 President's Budget
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATIONS:
Analysis of the 2022 President’s Budget presented by Dr. Justine Diokno-Sicat, Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Reaction of Director Anna Liza F. Bonagua, Bureau of Local Government Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government (to follow)
Reaction of Mr. Fabian Seiderer, Lead Public Sector Specialist, World Bank