The Department of Budget and Management on Friday assured government employees that they will receive their much-awaited Christmas bonus for this year but not before November 15.

"The President is very generous when it comes to that. We should not worry," Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya told radio dzMM when asked if state workers will be receiving their Christmas bonus this year.

Andaya said the Christmas bonus will be given on top of Mrs. Arroyo's usual cash gift to government employees and their 13th month pay, which is required by law.

He declined to give an estimate of how much will be the government's Christmas bonus for this year. He said the cash bonus will be taken from the government's annual savings.

He also turned down the proposal for an early release of the bonus since the government had just raised salaries of state employees last July. The cash gift and the 13th month pay will be received by state workers on or before November 15, he said.

Andaya made the assurance as former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno said Thursday that Filipinos should expect a dry Christmas this year because of the US economic crisis that is affecting the global community.

He urged the government and the private sector to release their employees' Christmas bonus as early as September to increase the Filipinos' buying power, which, he said, will help boost the country's economy.

Antonio Tinio, president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), backed the proposal, saying that high inflation continues to affect the purchasing power of the nation's educators.