Gov’t spending hits P1.02T, DBM reports

Gov’t spending hits P1.02T, DBM reports

The government has stepped up spending from January to November last year, disbursing more than P1 trillion on infrastructure projects, or an increase of about 18.5 percent from the same period in 2022, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Sunday.

Citing data from its 2023 disbursement report, the DBM said the government spent P1.02 trillion from P861.8 billion over the same period in 2022, marking a P159.8-billion increase, mainly due to bigger spending by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).Despite questions on corruption at the DPWH, economists consider the spending data good news because of the government’s significant underspending in recent years that has weighed on the country’s economic growth.

“Government spending is vital to national growth. Thus, to help buttress robust economic growth, government agencies must continue to execute their programs and projects as authorized in the annual budget and deliver planned results in a timely manner,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a statement.

In congressional hearings on the government’s P5.678- trillion budget for 2024, Pangandaman defined underspending as “the difference between the programmed disbursements from actual disbursements,” meaning, the government did not implement some projects and programs it proposed.

Underspending

According to the data she presented, a disbursement of P2.5 trillion was programmed for the first semester of 2023. However, actual disbursements amounted only to P2.4 trillion, resulting in P170.5 billion in underutilized funds.

Pangandaman said the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) topped the list of agencies that were not using taxpayers’ money as intended.

According to Pangandaman, the DICT only had a utilization rate of 5.6 percent, followed by the Department of Migrant Workers, 10 percent; Department of Social Welfare and Development, 11.4 percent; Department of Agrarian Reform, 13.8 percent; Department of Labor and Employment, 14.9 percent; and Department

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