DBM seeking hike in public spending

The Department of Budget and Management is seeking Malacañang’s blessing to disburse an additional P90 billion to boost expenditures and drive economic growth.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said in an economic briefing on Friday that the amount would fund projects like rural electrification, socialized housing, and rural infrastructure such as bridges and local roads that connect to national roads.

“In choosing projects that this [proposed fund] would cover, we are looking at the breadth of economic multiplier and the benefits to poor communities,” Abad said. “These [projects] should also be quick-disbursing.”

The budget chief explained that the fund would be drawn from dividends collected from government-owned and –controlled corporations.

“We will also utilize continuing appropriations from the 2010 national budget,” Abad said, referring to previously set allocations for the fiscal year.

Earlier this week, Abad said Malacañang has been disbursing more funds to catch up on its spending program even as the budget in August grew at a surplus.

He reported that the “steep increase” in revenue inflows last August slightly offset the year-on-year rise in expenditures that month.

The Bureau of the Treasury earlier reported that Malacañang posted a budget surplus of P9.22 billion in August.

Abad said that government spending seemed to have finally turned a corner as the state spent P114.93 billion last month—up 7.9 percent from the P106.5-billion registered in the same month of 2010.

This represents the first positive growth of monthly disbursements during the year, Abad said.

As of August, the budget department released a total of P1.346 trillion allotments, or 82 percent of the P1.645 trillion national budget for 2011.