Kinilala ni House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda ang ambag ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa magandang paglago ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas.
Kasunod ito ng naitalang 5.6% gross domestic product (GDP) growth sa huling quarter ng 2023 at annual GDP rate.
Ipinapakita ani Salceda ng naturang mga numero ang isang matatag na private sector long-term investment kung saan naitala ang gross fixed capital formation sa 8.1 percent.
Malaking tulong aniya dito ang panghihikayat ni Pangulong Marcos na magpasok ng investment sa bansa sa pamamagitan ng mga reporma, at pagpapadali at pagiging patas ng pagnenegosyo.
Isa naman sa nakikitang dahilan ng economist-solon kung bakit kinapos sa target na 6 ot 7 percent GDP ang Pilipinas ay dahil sa election ban noong Barangay and SK Elections, at delay sa paglalabas ng pondo sa mga mahahalagang programa.
Una nang sinabi ni Salceda, na kailangan makapaglabas ng P266 billion noong buwan ng Nobyembre hanggang Disyembre para makamit ang target spending ngunit P8 bilyon lang ang nagamit.
“Government spending grew at a disappointing 0.4 percent full year, and shrunk by 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter. We pointed this out as the reason for House Bill No. 9513, or the use of a broader range of sources for the release of unprogrammed funds. In October, when just P261 billions of unprogrammed appropriations were released, I argued that we needed to release another P266 billion by November and December just to ensure that we maintain our target spending. Apparently, by November, just an additional P8 billion of that P266 billion was released.” giit ni Salceda
“If we passed HB 9513 by then, we would have been able to do catch-up work faster. Fortunately, similar provisions are now integrated in the 2024 General Appropriations Act. So, economic performance for 2024 should be better.” dagdag ng mambabatas | ulat ni Kathleen Forbes