Infra spending rose 21.5% in first 8 months
Government spending on vital public infrastructure rose 29.2 percent year-on-year to P25.4 billion in August following the rollout of more projects being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
In its latest national government disbursement performance report released yesterday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlay last August increased from P19.7 billion a year ago mainly due to “additional construction works of the DPWH under its various convergence programs.”
In August, the DPWH took charge of other government agencies’ projects, such as the Department of Education’s school building program, the Department of Agriculture’s farm-to-market road construction projects, as well as the Department of Tourism’s project covering “roads-to-tourist destinations,” the DBM said.
Additional disbursements also came from the settlement of the DPWH’s payables for completed capital outlay projects, the DBM added.
The amount spent on infrastructure last August, however, was 33.7-percent lower than the P38.3 billion disbursed in July.
Expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlay jumped 92.9 percent year-on-year last July mainly on the back of the P9.3-billion payment made by the Department of National Defense and the Philippine Air Force for their acquisition of FA-50 aircraft under the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization program.
As of end-August, the government spent a total of P214.2 billion on infrastructure, up 21.5 percent from P176.2 billion last year. The end-August figure was equivalent to 49.6 percent of the full-year program, according to the DBM.
“While the underspending recorded in the previous months may no longer be fully recovered, the accelerating timing of payments, mostly for infrastructure and maintenance expenditures, due to the measures being undertaken by agencies… should contribute to bolstering domestic economic activity in the coming months,” the DBM said.
