RP proposes $16.2b budget for 2005

RP proposes $16.2b budget for 2005

MANILA: President Gloria Arroyo has asked the Philippine legislature to pass a 907.6 billion-peso (US$16.2 billion) national government budget for 2005, the presidential palace said on Thursday.

Arroyo, who upset the financial markets earlier this week when she warned that the country was now in the throes of a "fiscal crisis", said the bill assumes 5.3 percent to 6.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth, a 4 percent to 5 percent inflation rate and a budget deficit equivalent to 3.6 percent of the GDP.

The budget bill was sent to the House of Representatives late on Wednesday, the budget department said. -- AFP