Philippines’ Duterte Proposes 12% Boost in 2017 Budget Spending
- 2017 budget deficit set to rise to $10.3 billion, 3% of GDP
- Police budget proposed to increase by 25%, education by 31%
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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to expand the 2017 budget by 12 percent to $72 billion so he can fulfill key election promises to increase spending on police, education and infrastructure.
According to a plan submitted to the House of Representatives on Monday, the Duterte administration’s budget could widen the deficit to 478.1 billion pesos ($10.3 billion), or 3 percent of GDP, from a projected 2.7 percent this year. This would almost quadruple the 121.7 billion peso deficit recorded in 2015.