Gov’t infrastructure spending up in Nov. ’15

Public spending on infrastructure jumped by 38.1 percent to P20.4 billion in November last year as the government ramped up improvements of road infrastructure as well as military facilities, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data released Wednesday showed.

Separately, the Philippine Statistics Authority said it slightly jacked up to 6.1 percent the gross domestic product (GDP) growth posted during the third quarter of 2015 from the 6 percent announced last November. The government is set to release this morning the GDP growth figures for the fourth quarter as well as the entire 2015.

DBM data showed that expenditures on infrastructure and other capital outlays in November rose from P14.8 billion a year ago mainly on the back of Department of Public Works and Highways-led rehabilitation and upgrading of roads and bridges nationwide.

In a statement, the DBM likewise cited “continued modernization of assets and facilities” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as a contributor to the higher disbursements for infrastructure that month.

“The disbursements for the upgrading and modernization of defense assets and facilities of the Department of National Defense (DND) under the AFP modernization program also boosted capital expenditures. The assets and facilities purchased include, among others, mapping and   communication systems, civil engineering, medical and dental equipment, and light utility vehicles which would enhance the capability and operations of the DND,” the DBM said in a separate report.

As of the end of the first 11 months of 2015, the amount spent by the government on infrastructure projects rose 22.8 percent to P291.3 billion from P237 billion during the same period in 2014. But the end-November infrastructure expenditures composed only 67.5 percent of the full-year program with only one month remaining before 2015 ended.

Total disbursements last November rose 13.2 percent year-on-year to P171.4 billion, bringing 11-month expenditures up by 13 percent to P1.992 trillion.

Government spending in November, however, was almost a fourth below the program, while the end-November figure was 15-percent lower than the target. This meant that the government did not spend as much as it should have on public goods and services needed to support economic growth.