Govt orders line agencies to pump-prime the economy

Government has ordered three of its line agencies to pump-prime the economy by ramping up their spending, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said Wednesday. Beltran said the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Agriculture have all been asked to spend more in the remaining quarter of the year. Public sector underspending was partly responsible for the slowdown in economic growth during the first half. In the second quarter of 2011, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 3.4 percent from 4.9 percent in first quarter. Beltran said the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) received word from the three agencies that they are committed to spend more the last three months to December, adding that the committee may meet with other agencies on their expenditure plans. Actual disbursements in August remained low at P114.928 billion which brought the January-to-August expenditures to P947.244 billion or 8.12 percent lower than year-ago figures. On program, government should spend P1.275 trillion in the nine months to September. — JMT/VS, GMA News