Marcos looks at 2023 budget for proposed stimulus measure

Presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is looking at the national budget for 2023 to fund any economic stimulus measure amid the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked if there were enough funds in the 2022 General Appropriations Act for the stimulus package being considered by House members, Marcos indicated there was little to work with under the present budget.

“There are slight differences because although it has been disbursed, not all of it has been spent, so mayroon pa tayong breathing room pero kaunti na lang," Marcos said.

"And so that’s why we will have to look to the new budget, the budget for 2023 which is presently being written,” he added.

“We have to look at that to find sufficient funds for the things we want to do," Marcos said.

"Basically, move some public expenditure away from non-investment expenditures to more investment expenditures, again to revitalize, to retool the economy,” he added.

House leaders led by Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez are looking to pass a stimulus package dubbed Bangon Bayan Muli Bill under the 19th Congress which will convene after June 30.

Romualdez, Marcos' cousin, appears to have a lock on the speakership after has drawing the support of several parties and many House members.

The BBM bill is being eyed to allow the incoming president to harness the resources available to him at the end of 2022 to finance measures in addressing the pandemic.

Two Bayanihan laws have been passed to supplement funds for the recovery and response of the government against the COVID-19 pandemic. —NB, GMA News