News Update P438.8B of 2012 budget goes to economic sector, says DBM

The Aquino administration taking P438.8 billion from the 2012 budget to fund a “sustainable economic growth,” the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday. Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the economic sector budget is 24.2 percent of the P1.816 trillion 2012 National Budget. In a statement, Abad said the money will help finance government’s job generation and economic development programs. Sectors that will benefit from economic sector budget are the semi-conductor and electronics, business process outsourcing, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and general infrastructure. Around P182.2 billion of the P438.8 billion budget will fund government’s infrastructure program, said Abad, The economic sector allotment also includes a P22.1-billion fiscal support program for the public-private partnership program (PPP) to attract the private sector joining critical infrastructure project. The DBM said agriculture projects on rice self-sufficiency by 2013 will also benefit from the economic budget, including P6.2 billion for the National Rice Program, P1.3 billion for the High-Value Crops Program, P951 million for the National Corn Program, P1.9 billion for the National Fisheries Program, P1 billion for the National Livestock Program and P24.5 billion for irrigation development. — VS