The national budget is a development tool used to address infrastructure and social service needs, stabilize the economy, and promote accountability. It is also a tool for transparency to help taxpayers understand where their hard-earned monies go. The budget complements the government’s development agenda, with the ultimate goal of delivering a better quality of life for people.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, more is expected from the government in terms of vital socioeconomic services. At the same time, less government revenues can be expected due to the economic downturn. Hence, the proposed national government budget would have to be scrutinized. Basic criteria must be considered, namely, responsiveness, efficiency, and value-for-money. Is government spending responsive to people’s needs?
This booklet, which is part of CPBRD’s series of publications on the 2021 national government budget, provides a comparison of the proposed FY 2021 budget and the current FY 2020 budget. Details are disaggregated by department, agency, and Special Purpose Funds (SPF). The budget levels are broken down by general expense class—i.e., Personal Services (PS), Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), Capital Outlays (CO), and Financial Expenses (FinEx). Top 25 agencies/SPF with budget increases or cuts are also shown in separate tables.
We hope that the budget variance tables will help Congress scrutinize the President’s proposal, in view of making the national budget a genuine tool that delivers a better quality of life for Filipinos.
