MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management said Monday it has released 98.9% of the 2019 national budget as of end-November in a bid to swiftly implement government projects and programs.
In a statement, the DBM said P3.6 trillion of the P3.7 trillion outlay for this year has been released to government agencies as of last month.
Allotment releases to line departments amounted to P2.056 trillion, the budget department added. These include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive, Congress, the Judiciary and other constitutional offices, it explained.
Meanwhile, releases from Special Purpose Funds, or SPFs, amounted to P369.04 billion. SPFs are budgetary allocations in the national budget allocated for specific socio-economic purposes.
The DBM also reported that allotment releases for automatic appropriations — or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law — inched up to P1.1 trillion. These include 100% of the 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment of local government units and pension of ex-president/ex-president widows, among other items.
As for unprogrammed appropriations, P64.812 billion have been released. Unprogrammed appropriations are standby appropriations which authorize additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects when revenue collections exceed the resource targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Allotments for other automatic appropriations, amounting to P29.825 billion, have also been released.
With a vote of 19-0-0, the Senate approved on third reading last month a bill extending the validity of the 2019 national budget until December next year. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral