The government has released P2.386 trillion or 91.6 percent of the P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget as of July, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data released on Monday showed.
The share of end-July releases to this year’s total budget, which also included continuing appropriations under the 2014 general, as well as supplemental budgets, was higher than the 89.6 percent recorded in the first seven months of last year.
For releases covering the original 2015 general appropriations, end-July allotment releases hit P2.311 trillion or 88.7 percent of the programmed amount.
Comprehensive releases to government departments from January to July amounted to P1.272 trillion or 95.4 percent of the program.
In the remaining five months, a balance of P219.8 billion should still be disbursed.
“We continue to focus on implementing the current year’s budget efficiently, even as the 2016 budget planning process is underway. Now that most of the 2015 budget has been released, we urge agencies to make the most of the funds released to them,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said in a statement.
The Budget chief pointed out that faster spending was not just a matter of supporting economic growth but also about the timely delivery of goods and services to the public.
Abad attributed the faster releases thus far to the implementation of the General Appropriations Act (GAA)-as-release-document regime, which makes available the majority of funds to agencies at the beginning of the year.
Abad also dispelled claims that the government had been holding back releases to agencies in order to convert them into an election war chest.
“The figures clearly show that most of the 2015 national budget has already been released to the appropriate agencies in the first half of the year. This alone disproves allegations that we’re holding back releases as part of an absurd, grandiose strategy for the 2016 polls,” Abad said.