The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday said tax measures will be crucial for the government to bring down the national debt by 2026.

In a press briefing in Malacanang last Thursday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the government needs more revenue to reduce the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio.

She said they want to bring down debt-to-GDP ratio from 60.2 percent to 60.1 percent next year.

"The ideal for our fiscal consolidation is to bring it down to 59 percent of debt-to-GPD ratio," Pangandaman said.

For June, the national government debt reached a new record of P15.48 trillion, the Bureau of Treasury said.

"We have talked (with Congress), and these (legislations are) included in the common legislative agenda of LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council ) and I think in the House of Representatives, many of these bills have already been passed," she said.

"So it's in the Senate, our tax reforms are in the advanced stage of the legislative process. And, of course, (Finance) Secretary Recto was then part of the Senate, I'm sure that he will push for these reforms," she added.

DBM estimated the revenue from proposed tax measures, which includes taxes on digital service providers, excise tax on single-use plastics, rationalization of mining fiscal regime, and windfall tax on mining, royalty mining, and package 4 of CREATE More are expected to reach P28.379 billion if they are passed in 2025.

The revenue from the tax measures are expected to increase to P32.415 billion in 2026 and to P31.371 billion in 2028. DMS