Government Expenditures

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration may not meet even its revised budget deficit ceiling of P260 billion for the year, and incur a budget gap that is below the ceiling, as government spending has yet to significantly improve.

The World Bank (WB) cited the need for the Aquino adminis-tration to speed up public spending to strengthen the local economy’s ability to withstand external shocks mainly as a result of the debt crisis in Europe and the still weak US economy even as it said the country remained well-positioned to absorb any new financial…

The Aquino administration has already disbursed nearly 90 percent of its budget for this year amid efforts to catch up on spending.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s budget deficit in the first six months of the year was way below what was programmed as the government has yet to catch up with its spending targets.

MANILA, Philippines – New York-based Moody’s Investors Service said the Philippines needs a more sustained improvement of credit fundamentals such as structural improvements in revenue generation requiring significant fiscal reform to get another credit rating upgrade.

THE Aquino administration does not intend to end the year with a budget surplus as registering one would be bad for the country’s economy, according to the Department of Finance. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told reporters that the government is doing a lot of catching up in terms of public spending after it underspent during…

MANILA, Philippines – Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano has warned under-spending agencies of severe budget cuts in 2012 if they would not spend their present allocations for important projects.

Has government spending really improved as claimed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)? The answer is a mixed bag. For public spending that makes a lot of difference in job creation and poverty alleviation such as public works and social welfare, the answer is NO. For other social spending such as education and…

SPENDING by government departments and agencies was close to target as of end-May, even as the total was down from a year ago, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has issued an administrative order (AO) directing all government offices to immediately account for all their motor vehicle units and draw up a disposal program for all luxury motor vehicles.

In its bid to drastically cut down the budget deficit as part of efforts to project an image it is managing the country’s financial deficit successfully, the Aquino administration has been depriving the Filipinos of essential basic services, House Minority Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

THE Aquino administration failed to front-load spending during the first quarter of the year as excessive scrutiny to bring down costs delayed project implementation, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

THE Aquino administration has released nearly half of its entire budget for the year during the first quarter to shore up economic activity.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced yesterday that almost half, or P800 billion, of the P1.645-trillion budget for this year has been frontloaded in the first quarter, an exercise which top economist Benjamin Diokno said cannot be reconciled with the low spending level shown in the state data for the period that showed…

Rep. Gloria Arroyo, during her term as president, gave out financial assistance to allies and non-government organizations (NGOs) but failed to liquidate such financial aid, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said, placing the amount at a little less than half a billion, or P447 million.

President Aquino has set his austerity program in motion, ordering the abolition of task forces and Cabinet-level positions without portfolio, imposing a moratorium on new hires and reducing subsidy to state corporations.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino will keep pork barrel allocations but will make sure they are equitably distributed and wisely spent.

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s budget deficit may widen to as much as P318 billion this year, above the revised official estimate of P293 billion, New York-based think-tank GlobalSource said in its quarterly report on the Philippines.

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the government raised its allocation for education next year, adding the sector would get nearly half the budget set aside for social services.

MANILA, Philippines – The country posted a consolidated public sector surplus of P28.67 billion in 2008 or 0.4 percent of gross domestic product, (GDP), marking the third consecutive yearly surplus for the public sector, latest data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed.

The government has moved its balanced budget target to 2013 in line with the recovery of the global economy, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Government’s budget deficit more than doubled to P67 billion during the first two months of the year from the P32.9 billion recorded in the same period last year, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves announced yesterday.

The bicameral conference committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved yesterday the P1.415-trillion national budget for this year, including P50 billion for the “economic stimulus package.”

Twenty foreign-assisted projects have incurred P33.5 billion in cost overruns, Sen. Francis Escudero said yesterday.

Critics preparing next year’s impeachment complaint against Pres. Arroyo may want to consider this: the administration spent over P36 billion in 2007, well above the sum approved by Congress for that year. This amount excludes funds they were not able to release in agency budgets including those transferred to over-all savings.