The House of Representatives has approved the P30.57 billion budget of the Department of Finance for 2021, a Cabinet official said.

The amount is 14.34 percent higher than the agency's 2022 budget of P26.7 billion.

"Many thanks to the Committee on Appropriations and our legislators for their careful deliberation of our budget. This will allow us to modernize our main revenue agencies and push for key economic reforms for robust and inclusive growth," Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said during the plenary deliberation recently.

The secretary said that under the DoF's proposed National Expenditure Program, the three revenue-generating bureaus will receive the highest budget allocation.

"The Bureau of Internal Revenue has a P13.1 billion appropriation, followed by the Bureau of Customs at P6 billion, and the Bureau of the Treasury at P4.2 billion," Diokno added.

Among the priorities of the department is the improvement of tax administration through the digitalization of the core functions and services of the BIR and the BoC.

The secretary added that the DoF's proposed budget of P3.56 billion for ICT programs and initiatives is equivalent to 29 percent of the 2023 national government's expenditure program for digitalization.