Govt spending improved as of end-May, says DBM

Public sector spending by all departments and agencies reached P402.8 billion at the end of May, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported on Monday. The figure comprises about 32.6 percent of the P1.237-trillion disbursement program for the year using DBM's notices of cash allocation (NCAs). DBM Secretary Florencio Abad said the amount is only 8.7 percent lower than the P441.3-billion negotiated checks registered during the height of election spending in May last year. “The departments and agencies are now catching up with their spending. With their catch-up plans in place, we are expecting further improvements in the next months ahead," Abad told reporters. Abad said the amount of checks negotiated during the period ran up to 92 percent of the total P437.9 billion NCAs issued, indicating an improvement in the agencies' disbursement capacity. In contrast, the NCAs' utilization rate in April was only 90 percent. The DBM had earlier released more than P1 trillion in budget allocations in the first five months of the year in an attempt to counter the impact of underspending on the economy. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/221415/business/dbm-says-p1t-released-to-counter-underspending Lower government expenditure contributed largely to the slowdown in growth during the first quarter, which was pegged at 4.9 percent in terms of the gross domestic product that came from a revised 7.6 percent growth in January-March 2010. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/222026/business/ph-economy-grows-49-percent-in-first-quarter Key releases during the last five months of the year include the P7-billion Department of Education school building project, the P5-billion health insurance program of the Health Department, the P3.43-billion National Rice Program of the Agriculture Department, and the P1-billion fund for potable water supply. Of the P1.711-trillion disbursement program for 2011, P1.237 trillion represents NCA disbursements while P474 billion are non-NCA disbursements. —JMT/VS, GMA News