The study assesses the proposed FY 2027 National Budget of P7.2 trillion through the lenses of fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, and operational efficiency. While the budget supports economic growth and social development, much still needs to be done to achieve the government’s fiscal consolidation targets with rising deficits and debt levels, not to mention the repeated recalibrations of the Medium Term Fiscal Program. Although the Social Services retains the largest share of the proposed National Budget, the expenditure program also reveals a shift toward infrastructure and economic services, given the reductions in key social sectors including health, education, agriculture, and social welfare.
With the fiscal consolidation timeline now extended, the FY 2027 budget should be assessed not only by its ability to reduce the deficit, but also by the quality of the adjustment. In particular, it should preserve investments that support economic growth and social equity, avoid undermining productive spending, and rebuild fiscal buffers to strengthen resilience against future shocks. It also highlights the growing budget rigidity as mandatory expenditures are projected to absorb 63.8% of the national budget in 2027, substantially reducing fiscal space for new priorities and limiting Congress allocative discretion. Indeed, strengthening expenditure discipline, reducing budget rigidities, improving project implementation, and institutionalizing a unified monitoring and evaluation system are essential to ensure that increasingly constrained public resources generate measurable development results and contribute meaningfully to the Philippine Development Plan and long-term fiscal sustainability.