Infrastructure spending up 57.6% in Q3

The government’s expenditures on vital infrastructure needed to sustain economic growth jumped by 57.6 percent year-on-year to P92.6 billion in the third quarter, although still below the P100.8 billion programmed for the period.

The latest disbursement report from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that in the month of September alone, disbursements for infrastructure and other capital outlay rose by 50 percent to P28.8 billion from P19.2 billion a year ago.

“The implementation of convergence programs such as the Basic Educational Facilities of the Department of Education, the construction of roads to Department of Tourism-identified tourist destinations by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the rehabilitation and repair of some roads and bridges by the latter were the main reasons for the higher capital spending” in September, the DBM explained.

“The increase in infrastructure spending was also driven by the capital outlay requirements of state universities and colleges. For example, some P700 million was released to the University of the Philippines system to finance the modernization/upgrade of various hospital equipment of the UP-Philippine General Hospital,” the DBM added.

The jump in infrastructure spending last September brought the third-quarter total to P92.6 billion, up by almost three-fifths from P58.8 billion in the same three-month period last year.

“The strong infrastructure spending brought by the releases for the aircraft acquisition project of the Department of National Defense under its Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program in July as well as the implementation of convergence programs under the DPWH starting last [August] have likewise carried the spending momentum toward the end of the quarter,” according to the DBM.

At the end of the first nine months, the amount spent by the government on infrastructure reached P243 billion, up 24.3 percent from P195.4 billion in the same period last year.

Despite the hefty year-on-year growth, end-September infrastructure spending was 16-percent lower than the P289.3-billion goal for the nine-month period.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the strong growth in overall government spending during the first nine months was expected to spill into the last three months of the year.