Agencies’ budget use up in Jan-Nov
Credit to Author: Mayvelin U. Caraballo, TMT| Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 16:15:43 +0000
THE budget utilization of government agencies improved to more than 90 percent in the first 11 months of 2019, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Data from the DBM showed that agencies used P2.81 trillion of the P3.02 trillion released under the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) from January to November. This translates to a utilization ratio of 93 percent, compared with 88 percent in the same period in 2018.
NCAs refer to disbursement authorities issued by the Budget department to government-servicing banks, such as the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Veterans Bank, to cover the cash requirements of agencies’ programs, activities and projects. NCAs are valid up to the last working day of the quarter covered.
According to the DBM, a higher NCA utilization rate shows the capacity of line agencies to timely disburse their allocated funds and implement their programs and projects.
DBM data also showed that the Commission on Elections recorded the highest utilization ratio in the period — 98 percent — using P11.34 billion out of P11.62 billion. The Commission on Audit came next, using P10.45 billion out of P10.78 billion.
In contrast, the Department of Tourism had the lowest budget utilization ratio — 65 percent — using only P2.59 billion of its P4-billion allocation.
Unused NCAs reached P213.86 billion as of end-November, lower than the P339.54 billion recorded a year ago.
State spending last month accelerated by 22.36 percent to P365.6 billion from P298.8 billion. This boosted the year-to-date tally by 6.73 percent to P3.303 trillion.
The bulk of government spending — P348.3 billion — was for primary expenditures, which grew by 27.06 percent in November from P274.2 billion a year ago. This raised the year-to-date tally by 7.08 percent to P2.97 trillion.
Interest payments worth P17.3 billion, on the other hand, accounted for the rest of state spending in November. In the first 11 months, these expenses grew by 3.67 percent to P331.8 billion.