Photo Release

Gov’t underspending: Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros tosses the first question about the government's persistent problem on underspending as the deliberation on the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 begins. During Wednesday’s plenary session November 8, 2023, Hontiveros noted that last August 2023, the country’s economic managers acknowledged the persistent problem of underspending among government agencies and directed those with poor spending performance to come up with a catch up plan. “We have to do so much, amid a very tight fiscal space. Like many countries in the post-pandemic era, our fiscal situation is characterized by high debt and high deficit. We need to better manage our national debt and the deficit, but more importantly, set spending priorities that raise growth -- growth that is both inclusive and fiscally sustainable,” Hontiveros said. Sen. Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, said among the top five government agencies that have poor spending performance are the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Tourism (DOT). (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)