MANILA - The P1.5406 trillion national budget for 2010 is expected to be signed over the weekend or early next week, House Speaker Prospero Nograles said.
"It (General Appropriation Act) must be on the way here, if not here already at the Palace. And we start counting the 30 days from today, so don't worry about it. It's just delayed in the printing dahil makapal otherwise we will have done it earlier. The delay was in the printing, not in the signing and we expect the President to act on it very swiftly," he said.
In the signing ceremony of the Republic Act 9946, which grants additional retirement, survivorship and other benefits to the members of the judiciary, Nograles said he signed the General Appropriations Act enrolled bill last Saturday, while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile signed it Tuesday.
In earlier reports, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the 2010 budget would lay the groundwork for the "full-scale reviving up" of the country's economy.
Remonde also said that the 2010 national budget would also "give impetus to the full-year economic growth of 0.8 percent as projected by NEDA (National Economic Development Authority), the expansion of service and agriculture sectors, and the encouraging outlook from both local and foreign institutions and organizations on the country's performance." (JMR)