MANILA - Economic managers have raised the country's budget deficit target for 2010 to make way for the impact of the government's P330-billion stimulus package.

On Thursday, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee approved the increase in the budget gap ceiling to P233.4 billion or 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) from P208.4 billion or 2.5% of GDP.

DBCC officials said at least P200 billion is set to be spent next year under the government's economic resiliency plan to help the Philippines recover from the global slowdown.

Earlier, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said that the government is set to borrow P640.28 billion in 2010 to help plug the deficit. About 75% of the programmed borrowings will be sourced from the domestic market.

"The priority is fiscal consolidation," Budget Undersecretary Laura Pascua told reporters.

In June, the DBCC raised the country's 2009 budget deficit ceiling to P250 billion or 3.2% of GDP from P199.2 billion or 2.5% of GDP. This came after the agency downscaled the country's growth projections to a range of 0.8% and 1.8% from between 3.1% and 4.1%.

The Philippines had a meager 0.4% GDP growth in the first 3 months of the year from 3.9% in the same period in 2008. The government is set to release the second-quarter GDP data on August 28, with sources saying that the government's fiscal and macroeconomic targets for the year will remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, revisions on revenues and expenditures have yet to be finalized by the DBCC's technical working group. "Not so much on the revenues, it was more on the expenditures side," an official said.