NEDA calls on Congress to pass 2020 budget on time to ensure economic growth

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has called on Congress to pass the proposed P4.1-trillion budget for 2020 on time to ensure economic growth.

NEDA Director General Ernesto Pernia made the call during Day 1 of budget deliberations by the House Committee on Appropriations.

“We need at least 6.4 percent of economic growth for the second half of the year to meet our [economic growth] target of 6 percent in 2019. That is why we are hoping for a timely passage of the 2020 national budget so as not to derail next year’s economic growth,” Pernia told lawmakers.

Likewise, Pernia said that NEDA will push for extending the validity of the P3.7 trillion budget for 2019 since its passage into law was delayed repeatedly due to lengthy congressional debates.

The passage of the 2019 budget was delayed after lawmakers debated  over whether it should be a cash-based budget where agencies are obliged to disburse all of their budget or lose it, as well as over questions on whether certain budget realignments proposed by certain members of the House and the Senate were favored over the others.

“This early, we are also looking forward to extending the validity of the 2019 budget to even beyond 2020,” Pernia said. —KBK, GMA News