Agencies’ budget use eases in Q1 – DBM

THE budget utilization of government agencies moderated in the first quarter of the year, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed over the weekend.

Agencies used P522.72 billion of the P536.24 billion released under the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) from January to March, translating to a utilization ratio of 97 percent, slightly slower than 98 percent during the same period in 2020

NCA refers to disbursement authorities issued by the Budget department to government-servicing banks, such as the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Veterans Bank, to cover the cash requirements of agencies’ programs, activities and projects. NCAs are valid up to the last working day of the quarter covered.

According to the department, a higher NCA utilization rate shows the capacity of line agencies to timely disburse their allocated funds and implement their programs and projects.

Posting the highest utilization ratio of 100 percent in the period are the Departments of Agrarian Reform, Education, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Interior and Local Government, Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, and Transportation.

Also utilizing all of the NCAs released to their offices during the three-month period were the judiciary, Civil Service Commission, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Department of Foreign Affairs had the lowest budget utilization rate of 59 percent — P2.93 billion out of its P4.98-billion allocation.

Unused NCA by agencies hit P13.52 billion in the first three months, higher than the P8.83 billion a year ago.

In an earlier report, the DBM said it already released P3.51 trillion of the 2021 appropriations in the first quarter.

Allotment releases in JanuaryMarch was already 78 percent of the P4.50-trillion programmed budget of the government. The latest figure was higher than the P3.21 trillion released in the first three months of 2020.