DBM releases 89% of budget
The government has released P3.263 trillion in funds to line agencies in the first seven months to support their programs and operations, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The DBM said allotment releases from January to July this year already accounted for more than 89 percent of the P3.662 trillion budget for fiscal year 2019.
“The immediate release of funds by the DBM will ensure that national government agencies are able to swiftly implement their programs and projects, such as the construction of new roads, schools, and hospitals, and the protection and promotion of the welfare of the poor and marginalized sectors, among others,” the DBM said in a statement.
Broken down, the DBM said P1.923 trillion of the total allotment releases went to line agencies, including those in the executive branch, Congress, the judiciary and other constitutional offices.
In addition, the DBM said it has released P222.14 billion from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs).
SPFs are budgetary support allocated for specific socioeconomic purposes, such as budgetary support to government corporations, allocation to local government units, contingent fund, miscellaneous personnel benefits fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and pension and gratuity fund.
The DBM said allotment releases for automatic appropriations also reached P1.06 trillion, which include funds for the Retirement and Life Insurance Program, internal revenue allotment, pension of ex-president or ex-president widows, net lending, and interest payments.
In addition, the agency said it also issued P24.7 billion from continuing appropriations under the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA). These refer to appropriations available to support programs or projects that require the incurrence of obligations beyond one fiscal year.
Moreover, unprogrammed appropriations amounting to P24.1 billion have been released for the foreign-assisted projects of the Department of Transportation, and for the payment of pension arrearages of armed personnel.
Unprogrammed appropriations include additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects authorized when revenue collections exceed the resource targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Republic Act 11260 or the 2019 GAA was only signed by President Duterte last April 15, forcing the government to operate on a reenacted 2018 budget in the first quarter.
To make up for this, the Duterte Cabinet’s economic cluster formulated a spending catch-up plan for the rest of the year.
Given this, the DBM said bulk of disbursements, especially on infrastructure projects, is expected to come in by the latter half of the year.
The DBM has committed to monitor the performance of implementing agencies who promised to accelerate their spending in the latter half of the year, in order to achieve the government’s economic growth target of six to seven percent for 2019.