President Aquino to Sign 2015 National Budget Before the Year Ends

President Benigno S. Aquino III will sign into law the 2015 National Budget before the year ends so there will be an effective national budget next year, a Palace official said on Tuesday.

The Palace will wait for the formal submission of the approved national budget, which will be reviewed to make sure that everything is correct, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said during the daily press briefing.

Once it is submitted to the Office of the President, it will be prepared for the President to sign, he said.

“At batay doon sa naging karanasan natin hinggil sa 2011, 2012, 2013, at 2014 budget, ito ay idinaos bago matapos ang taon at dahil dito, naisagawa ang pormal na implementasyon ng General Appropriations Act simula sa unang araw ng budget year,” he noted.

“Kaya’t inaasahan natin na maisasagawa din muli ito para sa 2015 national budget para simula sa Enero 1, 2015, ay magiging ganap na epektibo na ang ating pambansang budget.”

The Congress on Monday approved the proposed P2.6 trillion National Budget for 2015. Of the amount, close to half a trillion pesos are lump sums in the special purpose fund (P368 billion) and unprogrammed fund (P123 billion).

With more than P1.7 trillion under new appropriations, total new appropriations stand at more than P1.8 trillion.

Education got the highest share of the 2015 budget. PND (as)