Social infra, agri top 2024 budget Spending plan handed to Congress

By Charles Dantes and Maricel V. Cruz

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is seeking to increase the funding for his administration’s infrastructure and agricultural programs next year, the P5.768-trillion spending plan for 2024 submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to Congress shows.

In his budget message, the President said that under the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the “Build Better More” program would focus on social infrastructure.

TURNOVER. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman (left) submits the 2024 National Expenditure Plan to Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, who promised next year’s proposed national budget would go through the House’s quick scrutiny, deliberation and approval.

“This program, which seeks to continue and expand the Golden Age of Infrastructure of the country, will receive a total of P1.418 trillion.

This is equivalent to 5.3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product),” Marcos said.

This includes the public sector infrastructure budget of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), amounting to P176.4 billion