Government expenditures still well below 2012 goals

STATE SPENDING remains well below programmed amounts for the year despite significant year-on-year gains as of May, data from the Budget department showed.

Infrastructure and capital outlays surged in the first five months, climbing by 83% to P77.3 billion from only P42.2 billion a year earlier. The Budget department attributed the improvement to road projects of the Public Works department and irrigation programs of the Agriculture department.

The amount, however, is just a quarter of the full-year goal. With seven months left to the year and the dry season over, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad claimed that construction would proceed much faster for the rest of the year.

“Much of the delay is usually in the bidding or procurement phase of infrastructure implementation. About 90% of that is already done for all projects,” he said in a text message.

Mr. Abad added that Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson also expects to complete most road and bridge projects by the third quarter.

Maintenance and other operating expenditures (MOOE), meanwhile, climbed by 36.5% to P96.5 billion as of May from P70.7 billion last year. This was buoyed by increased provisions for social protection programs such as conditional cash transfers, the Budget department said.

A third of the full-year MOOE program has now been spent by the government.

Personal services again formed bulk of expenditures in the first five months of the year, accounting for P211.9 billion, 7.6% more than the P196.9 billion posted last year.

This comprises only a third of the full-year goal but the Budget department expects this to improve with scheduled salary increases for government employees this month.

Public spending totaled P668.431 billion as of May, up 13.1% from the P591.041 billion disbursed in the same period a year ago. The government must now spend P216.857 billion this month in order to meet the first semester goal of P885.288 billion.

In order to avoid any underspending, Mr. Abad has vowed to take back at the end of the month funds left untouched and unobligated by government agencies.

These will be realigned to faster-moving projects that are “high-impact” and “urgent” such as tourism access roads, schoolhouses, rural health facilities, agrarian reform and social protection programs.

“These new projects and budgetary requirements will be disclosed after the magnitude of unobligated budgetary allotments has been determined,” Mr. Abad said.

The government expects to disburse P1.84 trillion this year. With an revenue collections estimated at P1.561 trillion, the 2012 fiscal deficit has been capped at P279.1 billion, equivalent to 2.6% of gross domestic product. — Diane Claire J. Jiao, Businessworld