By Joyce Pangco Pa?ares

THE government will take the lead in pump-priming the economy this year amid expectations the private sector will cut back on spending as a result of the credit crunch, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said yesterday.

He also asked Congress to quickly pass the P1.4-trillion national budget to ensure financing for the government?s P300-billion spending plan, which is aimed at shielding the Philippines from the full impact of the global economic crisis.

?The government has to take the lead and provide stimulus to perk up the economy. This will encourage businessmen and investors to join us,? Dureza said.

?We also hope Congress can move expeditiously on the budget because our stimulus projects [and the Social Welfare Department?s aid to the poor] are dependent on it.?

Dureza made the statement even as Asian governments prepared more measures to boost growth as a slump in global demand hurts exports, deepening the region?s economic slowdown.

India cut interest rates on Friday, the fourth time since October, and unveiled another stimulus package.

Singapore will bring its budget forward to January from February, and China may announce a second round of measures to revive growth as early as this month. South Korean and Malaysian leaders last week said they would take more steps to spur expansion of necessary.

Asian economies are slowing as demand for their products erodes amid recessions in the US, Japan and Europe.

Singapore on Friday said its economy in 2009 may contract more than it forecast in November, and reports showed exports and manufacturing shrank in China, South Korea and Australia.

The Philippine Congress failed to enact the budget before it went on recess for the holidays, but Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had committed to pass it this month.

The government?s economic plan is aimed at spurring a 4.7-percent increase in the gross domestic product. It focuses on financing infrastructure development, creating more jobs, and doling out P10 billion to 640,000 poor families to ease their suffering.

?It is not the duty of government to save. We will spend the entire budget and stretch every peso that we have, so government agencies must also increase their absorptive capacities,? Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said last week.

?If they don?t use the money, they will lose it. We will just re-align the fund to projects that do not have problems like right-of-way or other technicalities.?

Andaya said pump-priming activities should be done within the first semester to ensure that private companies did not hold back on spending amid the global economic crunch.

?Corporations have the tendency to hold back on their spending, so we must take the lead,? he said.

?But we must do that within the first six months or it might be too late. With Bloomberg