The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved the P5.14 billion budget of Negros Occidental for 2023 at its regular session on Tuesday, December 6.
The SP approved P4,952,981,428 for the General Fund and P190,379,525.15 for the operation of the Economic Enterprise Development Department.
There is a decrease by 12.87 percent or P780 million in the 2023 budget compared to this year because of the reduction in the province’s share of the National Tax Allotment, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, on his submission of his proposed 2023 budget to the SP in September, said “we are faced with the responsibility to lead our people and our province towards recovery while we remain in the course of the pandemic”.
“And as we navigate to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic together with the other existing factors pre-pandemic, the present global crisis on the upsurge of the price of oil in the world market aggravated further our already challenging state. This has caused a domino effect on the cost of commodities needed in our day-to-day operations,” he said*