Gov’t spending to increase in H2

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration said government spending is expected to jump further in the second half of the year and would sustain the improvement in disbursements.

The government has been trying to improve spending to boost economic growth, which grew 5.9 percent in the second quarter of the year from 6.4 percent in the first quarter.

For the whole year, the government eyes an economic growth of five percent to six percent.

Budget and Management secretary Florencio Abad said that from January to July, spending for infrastructure and capital outlay increased to P106.2 billion or 64.7 percent.

Disbursements for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures (MOOE) also increased to P134.6 billion or 37.2 percent.

Interest payments improved 14.6 percent to P201.3 billion during the seven-month period compared to P175.7 billion in the same period last year.

The personal services budget, meanwhile, increased nine percent to P298.3 billion from P273.6 billion.

Abad said the Budget department has already reminded slow moving agencies to speed up their respective programs.

“We’ve already implemented some landmark reforms to speed up disbursements across all government departments and agencies, as well as clear up bottlenecks that only result in costly delays in project execution. We’re pleased to note that these measures have already produced results, with departments optimizing the releases made to them and disbursements enjoying higher levels in July,” Abad said.

He said the Budget department has warned slow moving agencies that if they don’t implement their respective projects by September, these releases would be forfeited in favor of fast-moving projects.

Abad attributed the growth in disbursement to the improved utilization of Notices of Cash Allocation (NCA) in July which rose to 97.2 percent during the seven-month period.

“This registered a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent resulting from quicker NCA utilization by some agencies, particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),” Abad said.

Latest data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed that the government’s January to July fiscal deficit reached P73.731 billion. In July, the deficit reached P39.249 billion. –Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)