President Marcos asks Congress to approve P7.2 trillion national budget for 2027

MANILA- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked Congress on Tuesday to approve a 7.2 trillion-peso ($118.1 billion) budget for 2027, 6% higher than this year, as his government sought to regain momentum after a sharp economic slowdown and a corruption scandal that has slowed infrastructure spending.

The Philippine economy grew 2.3% in the second quarter from a year earlier, its weakest pace since 2021, due to a slump in construction and softer domestic demand. That brought first-half growth to 2.6%, below the 3.5% to 4.5% target for the year.

Next year's proposed spending plan is equivalent to 21.7% of gross domestic product, the Department of Budget and Management said.

Education will continue to receive the biggest share of the budget at 1.15 trillion pesos, though it is down 11.5% from 1.3 trillion pesos this year.

Healthcare will receive 353.8 billion pesos, 21% lower than the 448.1 billion pesos in the current budget, while funding for agriculture was set at 261.7 billion pesos, down 13% from nearly 300 billion pesos this year.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, which has been at the centre of an infrastructure scandal, will receive 644 billion pesos, up 22% from the 530 billion pesos allocated for 2026. The agency's budget this year was cut by about 40% from a proposed 881 billion pesos amid allegations of irregularities in public works projects.

Defence spending is proposed to rise to 328.8 billion pesos from 305.5 billion pesos in the current budget, an increase of 7.6%.

The DBM said 316 billion pesos, or nearly four-fifths of the increase in next year's budget, would be used to cover mandatory obligations, like salary adjustments for military and uniformed personnel.

The government expects total disbursements of 6.9 trillion pesos in 2027, against projected revenues of 5.2 trillion pesos, resulting in a fiscal deficit of 1.7 trillion pesos to be financed through borrowing, Budget Secretary Kim Robert De Leon told a press conference.

The government has set a GDP growth target of 5.0% to 6.0% for 2027 to 2030.

($1 = 60.9570 Philippine pesos)

-Reporting by Nestor Corrales; Editing by David Stanway/Reuters