The Executive Branch will likely submit to Congress the proposed PHP5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024 a week after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA). During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum on Wednesday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is now in the final stage of preparing the proposed 2024 national budget. ‘Under the Constitution, we should submit the National Expenditure Program one month after the SONA. On our calendar, we will submit our NEP to the Congress one week after the 24th [of July],’ Pangandaman added. Marcos is slated to deliver his second SONA during the joint opening of the 2nd Regular Session of the 19th Congress at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on July 24. Pangandaman said the 2024 NEP was already presented to Marcos on Tuesday morning and will be shown to the Cabinet on Thursday afternoon ‘for final approval.’ She said the printing of the NEP will begin, once the Cabinet gives its nod to the budget plan for next year. ‘The President said that we have to ensure that the 2024 budget is consistent with what we prioritized this year and at the same time, ‘yung doon sa (with the) PDP (Philippine Development Plan),’ Pangandaman added. Pangandaman expressed optimism about Congress’ faster passage of the proposed 2024 national budget. ‘I’m hopeful that it should be faster kasi (because) last year, when we submitted the NEP, it was one week before the deadline. Ngayon (Now), one week after the SONA, isa-submit na namin (we will submit it),’ she said. Pangandaman was referring to the 2023 NEP that was submitted to Congress on Aug. 22, 2022. The proposed 2024 budget is 9.5 percent higher compared to this year’s PHP5.27 trillion national budget. On June 9, Pangandaman said the proposed PHP5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 will continue to prioritize expenditure items that promote social and economic transformation through infrastructure development, food security, digital transformation and human capital development.
Source: Philippines News Agency
