Government ramps up budget releases, but January spending low

MANILA, Philippines — Following a record P5.268-trillion budget this year, the government ramped up the release of its cash allocations to fund various projects, but state agencies had a lower utilization rate in January.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that notices of cash allocation (NCAs) inched up by seven percent to P284.47 billion in January from P265.28 billion a year ago.

However, utilization rate went down to just 66 percent from 73 percent in the same period in 2022.

This means that of the total releases, P187.48 billion was utilized and some P97 billion was unused last month.

NCAs are disbursement orders by the DBM to government banks servicing the release of funds to agencies. State agencies are expected to use the NCAs to pay for the cash requirements of their programs and projects.

A higher utilization ratio indicates greater capacity of agencies to implement their programs and projects.

A little over 70 percent of NCA releases were secured by line departments at P204.8 billion. The remaining P79.67 billion was directed to other agencies, especially state-run firms and local governments.

By sector, line departments registered a utilization rate of 55 percent or P112.37 billion for the NCAs they received in January.

Other agencies used up 94 percent or P75.11 billion largely to cover the internal revenue allotment, special shares, and other transfers for LGUs.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) obtained the highest NCAs worth P49.55 billion and P43.84 billion, respectively, in January.

Data showed that DepEd used 63 percent of its NCAs, but the DPWH only managed to spend close to 40 percent of its allocation.

The DBM said the Office of the President, Department of Energy and the Commission on Elections all recorded a 100 percent utilization rate during the month.

The only other agencies that posted above 90 percent utilization of their NCAs in January are the DBM and the Office of the Press Secretary.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development registered the worst utilization rate in January at only 25 percent of its NCAs totaling P3.45 billion out of the P13.92 billion allocation.

The Office of the Ombudsman came in second with a utilization rate of 27 percent at P91.42 million out of P333.61 million, while the Department of Migrant Workers was next with 31 percent at P350.21 million out of the P1.11 billion released.

Last year, the DBM released a record P4.42 trillion worth of NCAs as the government expedited programs and projects that could help the country recover from the pandemic.