THE government’s 2024 outlay will continue focusing on items tagged as priorities in this year’s spending program, the Budget department said on Monday.

These include infrastructure, agriculture, health and education — sectors that have been identified as crucial for steering the economy back into a high-growth path.

“We will continue the infrastructure program of the national government, from Build, Build, Build to Build Better More,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a statement.

The target is to spend the equivalent of 5 to 6 percent of gross domestic product to narrow the infrastructure gap, and the Budget chief said the ratio was at 5.8 percent this year.

Pangandaman also highlighted the importance of prioritizing spending for agriculture, which for 2023 was raised by about 40 percent after years of underinvestment.

“[W]hen the pandemic happened, our value chains stopped, and it’s important that we have

enough food in our country, enough produce,” she said.

The 2024 Budget Priorities Framework, which outlines the spending focus for the year, includes infrastructure development; food security; digital transformation; enterprise development; human capital development; climate action and disaster resilience; strategic directions for full devolution; and research, development and innovation.