Congress should set cap on government borrowings

Discussions in the congressional budget deliberations have so far focused mainly on how the proposed P5.768 trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) would be best allocated for various services. The projected shortfall in revenues, a yearly phenomenon of revenues falling short of expenditures, has been skirted. With slight adjustments and revisions, budget approval is a foregone conclusion.

What looms ahead, however, is the serious concern that revenues will be short by P2.4 trillion, which must be sourced through borrowings. It’s high time for Congress to control the purse tighter by putting a cap on government debt which has been spiraling. From hereon, annual borrowings by the executive branch through the treasury must show repayment and amortization plans to get congressional approval as part of the NEP budget proposal. Payment plans for any proposed borrowing in the NEP must be a requirement for approval as well.

The executive branch should live within the Congress-approved financial plan; supplemental budget requests may be resorted to for emergencies, but with authorized legislation. Congress should, henceforth, include such financial oversight over the national budget. It shouldn’t leave hanging the serious accountability of the economic team to manage the proposed debt.

We now ask: how would this huge proposed loan of P2.4 trillion be repaid, and what is the timeline for repayments within the term of President Marcos? We have seen this undesirable practice of leaving to the next administration so many financial woes: the economic missteps and financial albatross left by the Duterte era have doubled our debt in six years, from P6 trillion in 2016 to more than P13 trillion in 2021.

Marvel K. Tan, CPA,
marvelktan@yahoo.com